Before It All Began
by phoenix9648
Summary: Starts the summer before The Jenna Thing... what if Spencer and Toby had met in a different way? What if they were together BEFORE The Jenna Thing/Ali went missing? With Alison's murder unsolved, Jenna blind, and the girls being buried under secrets and lies that A tortures them with, can true love really conquer all? Spoby. Multichapter.
1. Chapter 1

Welcome my beauties to my new Spoby story. It will be quite a lengthy one I think, if all goes as planned.

This was the very first Spoby multichapter fic I ever started (about a year ago during 2B) so my style may be different than what you're used to. However, after rereading it a few times, I really liked the voice I gave the characters, especially Toby, and decided to continue it. I'm really hoping you guys like it.

This story is an AUish, starting at the end of the school year the summer before Ali goes missing/The Jenna Thing. This puts the girls at about 14/15. There will be a major time jump coming up several chapters in, but this is just the beginning ;) I want this story to be a little more mysterious than my previous stories so I won't give you too many details yet. It will, like my others, feature plots/lines/things from the show... but more on that later ;)

I don't believe I've seen anything too similar to this on FF, but hopefully my creative brain keeps it different enough, if there is one out there, that you stick around. I'm going to tryyyyy for the first time ever to cut down my A/Ns to only a couple lines at the beginning of each chapter. Fingers crossed that works ;)

ENJOY! Let me know what you think please!

**I do not own Pretty Little Liars.**

* * *

Toby Cavanaugh had always been sort of an outsider in Rosewood. His mom had been battling cancer since he was young, finally losing the battle the year before. Regardless, Toby had been forced to grow up fast. It made him more mature than the other idiots in his grade, and his interests were always a little bit offbeat anyways. He didn't like the same music as other people, didn't like getting drunk and stupid, and found it hard to socialize. He was naturally shy and insecure anyways, especially at a gawky sixteen.

So being bullied wasn't exactly a foreign concept to him, but for the most part, he was left to himself, just the way he liked it. But ever since his new step-sister had moved in, he had gotten a lot more attention. She had only been at the school for a few weeks and already she was incredibly popular and social, the center of attention. Almost as much as Ali and her four best friends Aria, Hanna, Spencer and Emily.

There was something about Alison DiLaurentis. She was a complete bitch but somehow everyone did whatever she wanted. She had dirt on everyone and she always used it to bend their will into doing her bidding. But still, they all worshipped her, looked at her like an angel sent from heaven. All the boys wanted her and all the girls wanted to be her. She could charm the pants off anyone. She and Jenna obviously didn't get along; they were too much the same.

But regardless of his new step-sister or that he never did anything to anyone, Toby found himself being shoulder-shoved by one of Rosewood High's most popular guys, Noel Kahn, in the hallway. It sent his books flying and Toby himself into a locker.

"Oops, sorry Cavanaugh, better watch where you're going." Noel cackled as his other jock friends guffawed next to him and the other twenty or so kids in the hallway laughed as Toby quietly crouched down to gather his stuff. He wasn't one to retort and it was better to suffer this sort of punishment in silence.

Apparently not everyone felt that way however, since a tall brunette stepped out from the crowd, her expression one of disgust. Toby realized in surprise that it wasn't targeted at him but rather the team of idiots.

"Noel, seriously? Maybe you should get your inner ear checked because your coordination sucks. Just because it's off season doesn't mean you get to go around being a tool in the hallways."

Noel and his friends oohed, laughing at her now. "Spencer Hastings… I never thought I'd see the valedictorian stick up for the school loser."

Spencer raised an eyebrow at him, her arms crossed defiantly across her chest. "And I never thought the school's leading Neanderthal could even pronounce valedictorian, let alone use it in a sentence. Isn't life just full of surprises?" she replied sarcastically.

Noel rolled his eyes at her and gestured for his friends to follow him away. The rest of the students in the hall cleared off too, knowing the show was over.

Toby had no idea why Spencer, one of Ali's puppets, was defending him of all people. They had barely exchanged two words and they had gone all through school together. He had had four classes with her over the years and never once had she even offered a friendly glance in his direction. He didn't think she was evil; they just ran in different circles.

Spencer bent down next to him to help him grab the last of his stuff. He had stopped to watch the show like everyone else, and his face blushed red when he realized it was obvious.

"Sorry… you don't have to help me…" he muttered under his breath, awkward as all hell and cursing himself for even speaking. He wasn't good at talking to people, especially her. She was one of the populars; she automatically had high expectations of people and their social skills. She was just naturally intimidating.

Spencer smiled and apparently noticed his embarrassment.

"Hey, don't sweat it. It happens to all of us. These Rosewood zombies may act like they're above it, but it's always an act in this town."

"Aren't you one of them?"

Toby realized a beat too late he had offended her. He didn't mean to be so guarded, but he didn't understand the girl in front of him. He had known Spencer Hastings since elementary, but this was already the longest conversation they had ever exchanged. She was different than he expected.

Her voice was softer now. "I guess it depends who is looking." she said wistfully, getting to her feet and passing his books back to him. Their hands brushed and Toby nearly swallowed his tongue, expecting her to flinch away in disgust. She blushed slightly but didn't look upset in any way.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to be a jerk-"

She shook her head, smiling slightly now. "It's fine. I know how everyone here views me. I could change if I wanted to, but I don't."

Toby smiled his first genuine smile since Jenna had moved in the month before. "You should never change who you are. Plus it's not like you don't have friends. You're obviously doing something right."

Her smile grew at that. "Thanks. I never see _you_ with anyone. I don't know why though, you're-"

Toby was cut off from finding out what exactly he was when Jenna strolled by with her giggly posse. She waved her friends on and clutched onto Toby's arm, causing him to flinch on reflex, his face suddenly a shadow of the previous one.

"_Spencer Hastings_. I didn't know you were buddies with my step-bro." Jenna said sickeningly sweet, smiling wickedly.

Toby felt his face heat up. He knew Spencer was going to run, finally realizing that she was talking to HIM of all people.

"Sorry Jenna, I didn't see your name on him." Spencer replied politely, her voice even, but challenge was sparking in her eyes and caused Toby to smile a little. Who in the hell was this girl? Challenging the popular guys in school and now Jenna? She had guts.

Jenna's smile turned thin-lipped with impatience, it turning into more of a grimace now. "Oh Toby's all mine. He knows it."

Toby shifted his weight uncomfortably, remembering with pain what she was referring to. He hoped Spencer wouldn't catch on to what she was alluding to.

Spencer nodded, observing her opponent carefully. "Right. Well, I think your_ clones_ are waiting." she said pointedly, flashing her a popular-girl-level-fake smile.

Jenna seemed surprised at her attitude and finally let it go. "I'll see you tonight, Toby."

Toby clenched his teeth, knowing what was coming for him. He didn't blame Spencer though. Jenna would do whatever she wanted.

Jenna rejoined her girls. Spencer scoffed once she was out of earshot. "No offence, but your step-sister gives me the creeps." she told him, glaring over at the green-eyed brunette.

Toby had to laugh out loud at that one and she smiled broadly at the sound. "Yeah, same here. You have no idea how scary she can really be."

"Spence! We're going to be late!" Aria called from her locker a few feet down the hall. She was trying to curl her pink hair strands around her pencil, oblivious to Spencer being in the middle of a conversation.

"I better go." Spencer said awkwardly, not having realized how long she had spent chatting with Toby. "Try to shove 'em back next time, Cavanaugh."

He smirked. "Thanks. You know, for all of your help."

She smiled sweetly. "Sure."

She waved and headed towards her friend, before spinning on her heel and grabbing his arm. He jumped in surprise and she giggled a little.

"Sorry. I just… this might sound weird. But do you want to grab coffee after school? At the Grille or something?" she asked apprehensively, looking nervous for his answer as if he might blatantly reject her. "I mean, I was going there to study but I figured if you wanted to get away from psycho Jenna we could hangout."

He was obviously surprised, but smiled a little bashfully. "Uh yeah. That sounds great. Four?"

She smiled, unconsciously sighing in relief. "Perfect. I'll see you then."

* * *

Toby rushed around his room after school later that day, wondering if Spencer would notice if he changed into a better shirt. He didn't want to look like he was trying to impress her, even though he was. He decided he should. He could always tell her he got a stain on the other one or something. Well no, he didn't like lying. But this whole thing with Jenna had made him get into the habit of doing it.

Even if Spencer did notice, what was the harm? So he wanted to impress her. So what? What guy wouldn't? She was beautiful and she must know it.

Toby threw his books in his bag, putting the smallest amount of cologne on. He just didn't want to smell bad. It's not like he was trying to be a walking Axe commercial…

He grabbed his mp3 player and snuck out of the front door before Jenna or his parents could notice to start the walk over.

Toby walked everywhere. He was saving up to buy a motorcycle. He had both his driver's license and his motorcycle license, but getting wheels was a little bit more work. He hoped to have one by the summer. He briefly wondered if Spencer liked motorcycles.

He shook the thought out of his head. Why was he suddenly so obsessed with this girl? So, they were hanging out. So, she had helped him out earlier. That's what friends do, right? He didn't want to ruin his first friend in forever by coming on too strong.

Upon arriving at the Apple Rose Grille, he saw Spencer through the big window, swaying her knees back and forth on the stool as she leaned back to appraise her work, her face filled with concentration. He stared for a few moments, observing her bend back over her work as she looked between her papers and textbook and neatly wrote out some notes.

Taking a deep breath, Toby entered the small café and settled next to her.

She smiled warmly up at him when she noticed his presence. "Hey. I'm glad you came." she told him honestly.

He smiled in return as he pulled out his books. "I appreciate the invite. Didn't think I'd show?" he asked, sort of surprised at her comment.

Spencer shrugged. "It wouldn't be the first time I've been stood up."

His expression of bewilderment made her laugh.

"Why does that surprise you so much?" she teased.

He shrugged as he flipped to the appropriate page. "I don't know, you're… you. I mean, just look at you." he accidentally blurted out, and then kept his eyes clearly focused on his work so she couldn't see how embarrassed he was.

Spencer squirmed in her seat next to him and he felt the prickle of insecurity and fear that she was bothered by his idiotic confession.

"You're so sweet." she finally said softly, and he was startled when she squeezed his hand affectionately.

He smiled, but still couldn't look at her or he'd do something stupid. He hated that he was so jumpy, especially around her, but he figured it had to do with Jenna always surprise attacking him. If Spencer noticed, she didn't say anything.

But Spencer was beautiful, and it would be too easy for Toby to get lost in it and do something stupid like kiss her. She was long and slender, but in a graceful, elegant way. She had dark brown hair that went halfway down her back when in its usual wavy tresses and perfectly sculpted eyebrows. Her ivory skin was flawless and she had careful angles to her face, with pouty, medium-pink lips. Her teeth were perfectly straight and white and her smile was charming, lighting up her deep mocha eyes. She was athletic so her body was definitely toned in all the right places, making everything she put on look sexy. Toby shook this thought from his head, hating his hormones for even letting it cross his mind in the first place.

"So what are you working on?" Spencer asked conversationally, inching her stool closer to his so their knees were touching.

Toby swallowed. His heart was hammering in his chest. Why did this girl have so much power over his body?

"Calculus." he responded, mortified that his voice shook a little. He was so damn nervous. No wonder he had never had a date before. Spencer was so calm, cool and collected. As if she wasn't fazed by anything, least of all him. Although the latter part probably was true. And it's not as though this was actually a date.

"Oh, you're working on proofs? I love those. I did them in my AP class last term. I just like how you know you're right at the end, because they either equal each other or they don't."

Toby was a year ahead of her, but it made sense that an advanced placement class would cover the same things as the year ahead.

He smiled at her confession. It was the way he felt about them too.

"Wow! Did you draw these?" she exclaimed, seeing the doodles on his notebook and pulling it away from him to let her eyes explore the rest of the markings. He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly as she stared in amazement at his work.

Drawing was something he just sort of did. Sometimes to distract himself, to deal with stuff, or just for fun. Whatever the reason, it was something he really didn't show many people. It's not that he thought it was bad, he just didn't feel the need to show off or brag or anything.

"Yeah, just something I've always done." he finally replied with a shrug.

"You're amazing!" she told him enthusiastically, shaking her head in disbelief as she grinned at the beauty in front of her. "Are you going to pursue something to do with art after high school?"

Toby could barely keep up with this girl. If there was one thing he knew about Spencer Hastings, it was that she came from a family of overachievers and high education. Her parents were both lawyers. Her older sister had been as involved in academics and extracurriculars as Spencer was. He knew that wasn't a coincidence. But that meant he never would've thought he'd hear a Hastings seeming enthusiastic over an arts degree.

He was beginning to think he really knew nothing about anything.

"Well I was thinking of doing carpentry actually." he admitted.

She nodded. "Trades are always a great option. People overlook them too much. If you don't mind me saying, I think you'd be an incredible architect. I bet you're really good with wood and you're obviously decent at math since you're taking calculus."

Toby stared at her an extra beat, not knowing where this whirlwind came from. He could feel his palms practically sweating as his insides glowed with pride at her words. He had never been told anything like that. And to be told that by someone who obviously had an even brighter future… well, it made him feel special.

"Thanks. I never really thought too much about the future."

Spencer chuckled to herself, as if at some inside joke. She caught him looking and smirked. "My family is all about worrying about the future. I'm pretty sure our unofficial motto is 'why enjoy today when you can be worrying about tomorrow.'" she teased, giggling and looking far too adorable.

Toby laughed at her explanation, and it seemed to make her happy. "Your family sounds intense."

She nodded. "Yeah, that's one way to put it." she said amusedly, and they grinned at each other.

* * *

Toby felt himself relaxing around her as the evening continued. They had coffees and soon found themselves eating dinner together, studying in between talking about just about everything except the academic stuff. He found himself laughing easily with her, feeling lighter than he had in years. She was so interesting and funny and adorable. She had a way of being incredibly sweet amongst her self-assured attitude.

He wasn't sure when it happened, but once it got dark outside he found their hands were interlaced under the table. The Grille seemed to be closing so they paid for their stuff and Toby offered to walk her home. Her winning smile back at him was enough to send his heart in a fluttering mess.

They chatted more, about their favorite books, movies, music, everything. Stopping outside her huge house/mansion/whatever, Toby finally remembered what different worlds they lived in.

"Impressive." was all Toby said as he gazed up at it.

She looked a little embarrassed, like being rich was something to be ashamed of. "Yeah, I guess."

He looked back to her and saw she was standing rather close to him, their hands still intertwined.

She smiled and squeezed his hand in hers. "Thanks for hanging out with me. I had a lot of fun. Although, I'm probably going to be up until midnight making up for the time I lost." she added amusedly.

He tried to mask his guilt, but failed miserably. "Sorry."

"Don't be. It was definitely worth it."

Toby didn't know what came over him, but before he knew it, he was leaning down and pressing his lips against hers.

Spencer seemed surprised, but before he could pull back, she raised her hands to his face and met their lips again harder, more passionately.

Toby wasn't prepared for the feelings that rushed through him at her kiss and practically stumbled into her, wrapping his arms around her lithe body, tangling one hand into her hair as he kissed her with everything he had been holding back all day.

She reciprocated, opening her mouth to his. If you asked her her name at that moment, she wouldn't have been able to give an accurate answer. She was only aware of the man in front of her; his tender lips, sweet smell, loving touches. She had never been kissed this way, with so much affection. It was making her knees weak.

Finally their lungs burned for air and they broke apart, panting heavily.

"_Sorry_." Toby pretty much wheezed, out of breath and blown away by what just happened.

Spencer was holding onto his arm as if she needed it to steady herself. "God, Toby, don't be. Where did that come from…?"

He worried she didn't like it or thought he was just another hormonal tool of a guy, but she continued.

"I mean, Jesus, is it _always_ the quiet ones?" she asked exasperatedly, and he had to laugh. She grinned back at him and stole another kiss. "I better head inside before my dad sends a SWAT team."

He pulled her in for a sweeter kiss than their first. Her lips were so soft. They opened to his like butter, her hands going slack against his chest.

"Goodnight, Spencer."

She kissed him again, mirroring his previous tenderness. "You're an amazing kisser, Cavanaugh. Goodnight."

She finally turned towards her house, releasing his hand.

"Spencer! Wait." Toby called then quieted as she revolved back to him. "Can I see you again soon?"

She laughed. "Of course. Here…" She dug through her bag and ripped a piece out of her notebook, jotting down something on it. "Text me later. I'm sure we can figure something out."

He smiled as she smiled coyly over her shoulder at him before disappearing behind her gate.

About ten minutes after she and Toby had parted ways, her phone beeped out.

_I forgot to mention… you're a hell of a kisser too –T_

Spencer giggled, hugging her body as she collapsed back on her bed in happy bliss. Never would she imagine herself with Toby Cavanaugh of all people but here she was. One day and she was already falling for him.


	2. Chapter 2

First of all, just want to say, from the bottom of my heart, I love each and every one of you. I cannot believeeeee the response this story has gotten already. You all are amazing. I don't know if I've ever got such an immediate, positive response EVER from any of my posted stories so I want to thank you repeatedly. Your sweet words made me shed tears and I just wish I could thank each of you in person.

I said last chapter I plan on keeping my A/Ns short. And I do. But this time, I'm afraid I must make an exception.

It has been brought to my attention, a few times, that there are people on this site stealing/borrowing lines/plots/storylines/etc from the more successful writers on here, clearly to gain more attention on themselves. Now, as far as I know, this has not happened to me.

But it has happened, over and over again, to Bree. I say her by name because I'm sure you alllllll know who she is. Her penname on here is MamaSpobette, previously Breedom2be. She has mentioned this herself many times in her own stories, but I've hit my limit. I CANNOT believe that people on here are that selfish. How DARE you, and you should _know_ who you are by now, STEAL from someone who works endlessly hard to deliver not only prompt updates, but lengthy, well edited, well constructed, INCREDIBLE updates. She is easily one of the most, if not the MOST, talented writer on this site in this fandom and I cannot find it in me to understand why any person would ever want to hurt that beautiful girl. She has the kindest soul and she means the world to me. If anyone has ever spoken to her, you already are aware of this.

Now she's hit her last nerve. Her. LAST. Nerve. And I wouldn't be surprised if, after she finishes her latest story, because SHE IS THAT DEDICATED AND GENEROUS TO THE TRUE LOVELY PEOPLE ON HERE, that she stops posting altogether and even deletes her account and takes down all of her stories. She's tired of this. Tired of people getting credit for her work. Tired of people taking shortcuts and ripping off her material. She spends hours and hours creating masterpieces and linking together dialogue that is in character and intelligent and funny and all of those wonderful things you hope to find in a story. Other people on here seem to be under the impression that they can cheat the system and put in minimal effort and have the same responses that she does. No. You are incorrect. BREE has the talent. And frankly, she's wasting it on here. She should be out there getting her books published. So we ALL are blessed to be able to read her work in such a free and convenient manner.

That being said, let me tell you this. You force Bree out? You force ME out. Now, to some of you, that doesn't seem like much of a threat. And this isn't meant to punish any of you beautiful readers that I have. But if the cruel people who can only think of themselves are reading this, then keep that in mind. I'm not as nice as Bree. I WILL CALL YOU OUT FOR WHAT YOU ARE. And I will make sure EVERYONE knows EXACTLY what you've been doing. You ever wonder why I can write bitchy characters so well? It's because I can relate to them the best. I will find a way to get you banned from this site. I will find a way for you to have to pay for what you have done. Do not underestimate me. Or I GUARANTEE you you will regret it.

Consider this your FINAL warning. Because I. Am. Done.

If anyone has any input on this, or have noticed any authors that seem to have RATHER familiar lines/stories/etc, PM me about it and I will look into it. This is not right.

ANYWAYSSSSSSSSSSS moving on to happier times, this chapter is a little short but it's fluffy and Spoby, so hopefully you like it :) I'm trying to get the next few chapters fixed up so I can update quickly again since you all are amazing. Love each of you wonderful people so so much. This chapter is a little OOC, but bare with me, they are only about 14/15 here and havent had anything significantly bad happen to them yet. So they are still innocent, which makes them different than the ones we see nowadays :)

If you want to know what I'm up to more or chat Spoby, my username on twitter is the same as on here (phoenix9648). I'm also on tumblr now, holdyourbreathuntilyouseelig ht, and I'll be posting some stuff on there that I won't post on here (because of FF rules and such) so check me out if you ever get bored :)

ENJOY BEAUTIES!

**I do not own Pretty Little Liars.**

* * *

Spencer tried to get back into her homework after Toby left, but she couldn't stop smiling and replaying their kiss in her mind. She knew she needed to be totally girly and gush to somebody.

Ali was out, since she thought Toby Cavanaugh was equivalent to the scum on her shoe. Emily was out, because Em was probably at swim practice, and even if she wasn't, she was the closest to Ali and Spencer was sure Ali would worm it out of her. Emily was pretty obvious when she had a secret. So that left Aria or Hanna.

Hanna had never had a date in her life, but she was so enthusiastic about the whole thing she would totally giggle and ask all the right questions. But Aria was always so sweet and supportive and would probably be less likely to say anything against her kissing partner.

Spencer picked up the phone and dialed three-way, getting best of both worlds.

"Spence, what's up?" Aria asked, sounding as though she was in desperate need of conversation.

"Please tell me you have juicy gossip." Hanna giggled between chewing.

Spencer rolled her eyes, but was smiling giddily.

"You guys have got to promise to keep an open mind here…."

"Oh my god, who do you like?! I thought you were going to end up dating Shakespeare. He's all you talk about anyways." Hanna joked.

Spencer and Aria laughed at that. "NO Hanna, Shakespeare is dead. And old. And ew." Spencer replied, chuckling. "No, I um…. hung out with Toby Cavanaugh tonight."

There was a beat.

"Really? I didn't know you guys had even spoken before." Aria commented interestedly.

Spencer smiled. No judgment, just curiosity. She must not have been paying attention earlier when she reminded her about class. "We hadn't, until today. Noel was being a tool… sorry Aria… and shoved Toby in the hallway. I told Noel off and helped Toby gather his books and then we just started talking I guess. We made plans to study at the Grille."

"You know, if Toby cut his hair, I think he'd be super hot." Hanna inputted knowingly.

Aria and Spencer hummed in agreement. She definitely had a point. Toby had a handsome face, it was just hard to notice when he was hiding it under a mop of light brown hair that covered his ears. Plus, basing things on how hard his chest felt, Spencer had a feeling carpenters did a lot of heavy lifting and that Toby had more to him than meets the eye. He just needed to stop wearing clothes that were two sizes too big for him.

"So… what happened?!" Hanna pressed, shaking Spencer out of her dreamy thoughts.

"Oh, right. Well, we had an amazing time hanging out. He's actually a lot of fun and really interesting to talk to. We studied a bit but mostly talked about everything under the sun. He's really different than I expected. We ended up closing out the Grille and then he offered to walk me home."

"What a gentleman!" Hanna cooed.

"A guy that gets Spencer Hastings to forgo studying… he must be special." Aria teased gently. "So did he hold your hand? Did he kiss you?!" she asked more eagerly, sounding more like Hanna.

Spencer blushed at the memory. "Yes and _yes_."

Both of the other two squealed in excitement.

"Okay, Toby just officially became a STUD." Hanna exclaimed.

"Han, who talks like that anymore?" Aria teased, as Spencer laughed.

"Sorry. I've been watching old movies." Hanna said sheepishly. "Anyways, whatever. Spence! DETAILS!"

Spencer giggled. "We were just talking and he was being so sweet and then, I don't know, he just leaned down and kissed me." Her voice almost shook with excitement as she continued. She started rambling on like a true teenage girl, which was unusual for her. "I think he was just going on instinct because he seemed like he was going to pull back but I sort of… grabbed at him." she explained, giggling through the embarrassment with the other two. "And then… well I don't remember much. Toby's a really good kisser. It was just… really, _really_ hot. I never would've expected so much passion and affection from Toby Cavanaugh."

"Oh my god, you're totally in love with him, aren't you?!" Hanna squealed, clapping her hands excitedly.

Spencer bit her lip, unable to stop the grin on her face. "He's really, really sweet. And so easy to talk to. And he doesn't make me feel like some stuck-up preppy snob. He just… gets me. He's gentle and… I don't know. I feel like an idiot because I can already feel myself falling for him." she admitted softly, insecurity clawing back up through her body.

"Just take things slow. No need to define what you guys are or your feelings right now." Aria told her assuredly.

Spencer nodded, loving that Aria sounded so sure. Because as much as Spencer was used to knowing the answer to everything, this was something she wasn't so sure of. And it was something she really didn't want to mess up.

"Spence, are you going to tell Ali?" Hanna asked cautiously.

Spencer sighed. "I'm going to have to eventually. I'm not looking forward to that conversation. Ali doesn't like it when anyone gets more attention from a boy than she does."

She was the only one brave enough to say anything negative towards Rosewood's queen bee, but it was the truth. She was best friends with Ali, no denying that, but it didn't mean she was a fan of all of Ali's antics.

"Are you and Toby boyfriend and girlfriend now?" Hanna asked, trying to change the subject to something more upbeat.

"I'm not sure… we haven't really talked about it yet. But he wants to see me again soon. I gave him my number and he's already texted me, so that's a good sign, right?"

"Ouu… what did he say…?" Aria teased.

Spencer bit her lip, wanting to keep it a secret, but also full of pride for the words. "He just said… that I was a hell of a kisser…" she admitted bashfully.

"Spencer!" they both squealed.

"You little fox." Aria taunted with a tinkly laugh.

Spencer appraised herself in the mirror, turning around and checking out her back side. "He's so cute you guys. I don't know what's going to happen though, so I don't want Ali to know quite yet, so please keep it quiet for now. I know the secret won't last, but until me and Toby really talk and I'm sure that he wants what I think I do, then I don't want all of the fuss. Is that okay?"

"Of course, Spence. We won't tell." Aria promised.

"Yeah. You guys can be like Romeo and Juliet!" Hanna gushed.

Spencer giggled at her overly romantic friend.

* * *

Toby floated on a cloud the whole way back to his house. He couldn't believe the night he had. Definitely the best day of his entire life, despite the earlier incident in the hallway. He felt like a million bucks. Spencer was… so not what he was expecting. He couldn't believe a girl like her was even giving him the time of day.

He felt like he must have dreamed it all up. But he couldn't get the memories out of his mind; her sweet smile, her adorable laugh, the feel of her lips against his. He didn't know kissing could feel like that. He felt like his body was bubbling with hot lava under the surface. Every time her skin touched his, it burned hotter.

Toby slipped into the house, and then his room, as quiet as a ghost. He hoped desperately that Jenna wouldn't hear his return. He knew she would use Spencer as an excuse to attack him some more. Although, right now, he didn't care what Jenna did. Nothing could dampen his mood.

His phone beeped and he quickly tapped it down to silent mode. He opened the new text with shaking hands, seeing the sender.

_(: you're too sweet. I can't wait to kiss you again… xx ~Spencer_

Toby flushed, not able to believe who the text was coming from.

_you're not the only one. I'll be replaying it in my head until then. When can I see you next?_

He didn't want to come off desperate, but he already was missing the feeling he got when he was around her. He drummed his fingers against his stomach, nervous for her reply despite her obvious enthusiasm over their night.

_Mmm well I figured we should get together and figure out what we both want._

Toby smirked. Leave it to a Hastings to make a meeting like it was business. He glanced down when he got another text.

_I know what I want… ;)_

He shuddered. Even if she didn't mean it that way, the images that flooded his mind made his jeans a little tight.

_I'm betting it's the same thing as me x3 … by the way. I know you've got an image to uphold at school, not just with Ali but with everyone. I just want you to know, if I avoid you tomorrow, it's not because I regret tonight or anything._

_Toby, I don't want you to avoid me. Look, can I call you real quick?_

Toby was dialing her number eagerly before ten seconds passed.

"Hey." she murmured breathily into the phone far too seductively when she saw her caller ID.

Toby's eyes practically rolled back into his head at the sweet sound. He knew his dreams tonight were going to be focused around one person.

"Hey." he replied quietly, not wanting to disturb his sleeping housemates.

Spencer sighed, sounding stressed already. "Toby. I know this… whatever we are right now… came as a surprise to both of us. And maybe the smart thing to do would be to try being friends first."

Toby decided the word 'friend' was the single worst word in the English dictionary.

"… But after that kiss… I can't just be your friend, even for a little while." She giggled utterly adorably and Toby swore he fell in love with her all over again. "Anyways, I know we run in different circles…"

"Well, I just have my own circle." he inputted amusedly.

He could hear her smile through the phone and he added that to another thing to adore about her.

"And I want to be a part of that. If you want me to be."

"Of course I do." he told her, his shy side shining through.

"I don't want to rush into a relationship, but I think we should hangout some more before we do the whole 'official boyfriend/girlfriend' thing." Spencer added cautiously, not sure how he'd feel about it.

"Spencer… you probably already know this, but I've never had a girlfriend before. I'm okay with waiting. I don't even know how to be a boyfriend." he confessed, not meaning to ramble but he was nervous about admitting his lack of experience. Spencer just seemed so self-sure and knowledgeable about everything and he knew she had dated plenty.

She laughed at his words, but not in a mean way. "It's not hard, trust me. Spend time with me, talk to me, make me feel special which you already do so easily… oh, and kiss me. A lot." she added suggestively with another adorable giggle.

Toby decided that flirty Spencer was probably his _favorite_ thing on the entire planet.

"That I can do." he said in a lower voice than he meant to.

Spencer, on the other end, bit her lip at the feelings that unwillingly rushed through her body at the sound of Toby's husky voice. Lord, that man would be the death of her.

"I've just got to figure out how to tell Ali and my family. I don't want word getting around about us until both of them give you a proper chance without judgment. My parents just have very particular expectations… and well Ali…"

"-is Ali." Toby finished as politely as he could.

Spencer sighed again. "Yeah. Exactly."

Toby nodded, although she couldn't see him.

"Look Toby, I appreciate what you said earlier, about avoiding me for my own good. I don't want that. It may not seem like it now but that will only make you feel like I'm ashamed of you and I most certainly am not. I just don't want our first hurdle as a couple to be natural disaster worthy, which is what level we'll be at if we just jump headfirst into this."

"I understand and agree." he said honestly.

"Good. So tomorrow, well I'm not saying let's make-out in the hallway, but there's no reason that we can't be friendly. Maybe seeing us together that way will ease Ali into it. At least that's what I'm hoping." Spencer finally breathed, and looked over at the time. "Well it's getting late. I should probably get some sleep."

"Good idea." Toby agreed. "Spencer… I don't want to seem like the clingy type, but is there any way you'd want to hang out again tomorrow night? We could talk. I could probably wrangle my parents into letting me borrow the car and we could drive somewhere and-"

"I'd love to." Spencer cut in with a giggle. "God, you're adorable when you get nervous."

Toby blushed at her words. "Goodnight, Spencer."

"Goodnight, Toby." she sing-songed, her cute laugh the last thing he heard before she ended the call.

Toby collapsed back on his bed, figuring out the countdown in his head for when he'd get to see her again.


	3. Chapter 3

I, once again, am BLOWN AWAY by how amazing you all are. The response to this story had blown any expectations of mine far out of the water... I just. You all are incredible. Thank you so very much.

Also want to thank you all for your support on taking down those people who have been stealing from Bree. It is wonderful to see people stand up for what is right! You can PM me any time, or DM me/tweet me on twitter, or message me on tumblr (holdyourbreathuntilyouseelig ht) and I will look into those stories immediately. Thank you so much for your co-operation. megans-chart on tumblr is to thank for dubbing us "Bree's Army" aka BA aka bad ass ;) Like Dumbledore's Army, for all you HP fans.

ANYWAYS I will shorten my A/Ns from now on. This chapter is super fluffy so I hope you enjoy it :) My updates are probably going to slow right down after this. I'm home sick today and hoping to get far with this story, but I have to be very careful what I put in the next few chapters so that what I plan to do in the future with this story remains accurate and the best it can be. So bare with me, beautiful readers! I will try to make it worth your while!

For those asking about Troigan stories, I have one on the go that I was prompted way way back months ago. It is a really serious issue that I'm discussing in it and I want to bring it the very most justice I can. So it's requiring a lot of research and emotional turmoil to push through in order to get it right. I thank you for your patience. Hopefully it will be posted this week.

I mentioned before that I will be posting some things on tumblr but not on FF. Someone, a guest reviewer so I couldn't reply, asked what they would be exactly. Most of them will be Troigans, because technically they are against FF rules since they are about real people, but also anything that has a higher rating, random drabble that I don't feel is really worth posting on here, or anything that isn't directly PLL related. For example, I posted a Tiffisario fic (You all probably know SleeplessGarden on twitter and she is the best Troian fan out there, sorry but my opinion, and I wrote her a story about her and Troian's meeting and interacting with Patrick and such, so it was just something fun and random but not FF appropriate). I'm always accepting prompts, although now that I've started posting this story, it does have to take priority again. There are several Troigans I have on the go right now, so whenever inspiration strikes, they will be posted either on here or tumblr depending on how I feel about them.

ANYWAYS on with the story!

**I do not own Pretty Little Liars.**

* * *

School the next day dragged on. Thankfully, this semester left Spencer with only one class with Alison and it was first thing so everyone was only awake because of the caffeine they had ingested before arriving. So Ali typically just doodled in her notebook and exchanged flirty glances with half the boys, completely oblivious to Spencer hiding something.

Spencer took all AP classes, but walked the halls with her girls or friends from her various clubs and extracurriculars since she was limited time with them throughout the day.

On the way to AP Latin, she had Ali all to herself, which wasn't a normal occurrence. Usually some other girls were hanging around, or boys, of varying grades.

"Spence, what happened to you overnight? You look like you went to the spa or something. Your eyes are sparkling with something more than caffeine this morning." Ali teased her gently, something that wasn't something many people saw, her sweeter side.

Spencer bit her lip, smiling a little giddily at the memories. "It's nothing…" she lied badly. When Spencer lied about happy things, she was terrible at it.

And Alison knew it. "Spencer! What boy have you been kissing?" Ali exclaimed, giggling.

Spencer giggled with her friend. Ali's laughter was infectious on a bad day, let alone when Spencer was already feeling fantastic.

A boy in the corner of her eye caught her attention and she saw Toby slipping between bodies in the hall. His eyes were on her though and he smiled a little before averting his gaze and continuing his route to his locker.

Spencer's look of disappointment caught Ali's attention, although that girl rarely missed a thing.

"Spence, please don't tell me you've fallen for Loser Toby." she said sharply.

Spencer looked down in shame. Ali had the uncanny ability of making people feel incredibly special or completely insecure. Spencer didn't doubt her feelings for Toby or his for her, but she didn't want to fight Ali on this.

"_Spencer_, I'm waiting." Ali interjected irritably, crossing her arms across her chest.

"Ali… I never would have thought it either. But he's really sweet."

"Um, news flash… Toby pulls heads off squirrels and is banging his step-sister." Ali told her coldly.

She had heard Ali say the first thing more than once, but the latter? That was new.

Spencer thought back to yesterday. Jenna had been too touchy-feely. But Toby just looked bothered, like she was freaking him out. She remembered a piece of their conversation…_"You have no idea how scary she can be."_ She felt like she was missing something; and maybe that was it. It didn't sound like Toby. When he talked to her about the relationship stuff, he was so innocent and cautious.

As for the squirrel thing, Toby didn't seem like he could hurt a fly. Spencer was pretty sure Ali herself made it up, probably just from seeing him out in the woods. Ali liked inventing things, living in her own world and manipulating that around her to fit it.

"I wouldn't believe every rumor you hear, Ali." Spencer said slowly.

"Oh come on, Spence, don't be so naive. I don't think you should be alone with him. I just don't want you to get hurt." she said, sweeter now but the fake kind.

Spencer internally rolled her eyes. She knew Ali. And Alison did not like _Spencer_ especially being liked by boys that didn't like Ali. And Toby's dislike for Ali was apparent even without him having said a word.

Alison flipped her long blonde hair over her shoulder. "Look Spence, associate with freaks all you want. But don't come crying to me when he tries something. He's probably gotten really good at lying by now. Just look at how good Jenna is at it." she added, sending a look of disgust across the hall to the other popular brunette.

Spencer looked over to see Jenna leaving her crowd of friends and grabbing onto Toby's arm. He turned around and it wasn't long before they were obviously arguing.

"Hmm…." Ali hummed thoughtfully. "Looks like there's trouble in paradise." she sing-songed.

Spencer watched worriedly, not liking the pain in Toby's eyes as he held his ground.

"Well he's obviously good at arguing. Maybe you guys _are_ perfect for each other." the blonde teased, watching the exchange nosily with a proud smirk.

Spencer closed her locker loudly in annoyance and the step-siblings fight broke apart.

"You know what, I think you and Toby _should_ date. You're both _freaks_." Ali hissed at her, annoyed at Spencer for ruining her fun and stalking away from her.

Spencer felt the corners of her eyes itch and sucked in her lips, upset now. She just wanted her friend to be supportive. But she and Ali always butted heads. She loved Alison, but still; she could be so difficult about certain things.

She was digging through her bag, trying to refocus her attention, when she felt a warm hand touch her forearm, and she looked up into concerned blue eyes.

"Everything okay?" Toby asked quietly, glancing around shiftily to see if anyone was watching them.

Spencer sniffed. "Yeah. Ali just… is being Ali." she substituted, wiping her eyes embarrassedly. "Forget it. I'm fine."

"Spencer…" he began, but decided to leave it. Spencer didn't seem like the type that liked being pushed on personal stuff, and as much as she had become important to him in a span of twenty-four hours, he really didn't know her well enough for her to owe him an answer. Plus, basing things on their surroundings, class was about to start. "Look, meet me after school. We'll get out of here for a bit, leave all of this drama behind. And we can really talk, about whatever you want." he told her encouragingly.

She finally smiled. "That sounds amazing." She didn't care who watched, although the hallway was pretty much empty now, and she leaned up to kiss him quickly.

He looked surprised but pleased by her impulsive decision, pulling her closer for a moment before they broke apart.

Spencer wanted nothing more than for it to be the end of the school day right then. She was too excited to spend more time with him.

Barely contemplating her idea, she left her arms looped around his neck as she let him in on it. "I was thinking… what classes do you have this afternoon? I'm already three chapters ahead in Latin, and in English we're just watching the modern version of Romeo and Juliet, which my copy at home is pretty much burned out… I wouldn't mind getting away from all of this drama with you right now. But if you need to go to class, don't worry about it. I'm not normally this uncaring about school and stuff, and I know skipping class is a bad idea for anybody but I just-"

Toby cut her off, rubbing her arms reassuringly. "You had me at 'I was thinking'." he told her honestly, smiling warmly.

Spencer felt her insides turn into melting butter. Who was this man? He was too wonderful.

She grabbed his hand and led the way out of the building, grinning excitedly at the afternoon ahead.

* * *

Toby and Spencer decided that going home and asking for his car wouldn't really work… seeing as they'd have to explain why they weren't in school when Jenna and everyone else were, and plus the small fact that his parents worked until five with said car.

So a half hour after they left school, they were holding hands and talking on the train. They decided to head into the city, Philadelphia, which was only about an hour out of town. There was more to do and it just worked out that they'd be less likely to run into people they knew.

Spencer found it too easy to fall for this guy. How had she overlooked him for so long? She had been getting her heart stomped on by egotistical jerks and smug academics for the past couple years. Here was a sweet, genuine guy who may be a little different but in all the best ways.

She couldn't help but smile softly at him when he got passionate about music or well, anything. He'd start talking faster and his eyes would light up and he'd just look so cute…

Spencer didn't mean to, but she cut him off in the middle of speaking with her lips, kissing him earnestly.

Toby faltered at first in surprise, but then moaned quietly and pulled her closer, dragging her legs over his lap. She kissed him quickly, loving the feel of his hands in her hair, and pretty much forgot everything.

They were in their own section, and it wasn't a busy time of day, so it didn't feel like PDA. But despite the fact that there weren't many people to witness their make-out session that was rapidly getting out of hand, Toby figured they should stop.

That was until Spencer was kissing down his neck, straddling his lap and letting her hand stroke under his shirt. She felt the heat rise to her own neck as she touched his hardened abs. She may not have visually witnessed them, but the feel of them alerted her that Toby had an amazing body hidden under those clothes.

Toby could feel himself getting turned on and felt embarrassed, trying to will his body to calm down but drowning in the feel of this incredible girl.

She nibbled on his collarbone, simultaneously grinding her pelvis into his, and his mind suddenly flashed to another night, a different brunette, and a familiar dirty shame filled his bloodstreams, turning him cold all over.

Without meaning to, he pushed her away rather harshly.

Spencer's expression was hurt and full of confusion and Toby immediately put his head in his hands.

"God, I am so sorry, Spencer." he said hoarsely, unable to look her in the face.

She adjusted her appearance and watched him cautiously. "It's fine…" She tried to understand what was going on. "I'm sorry…. Was I moving too fast? I didn't mean to-"

He shook his head and she paused, waiting for him to explain.

She waited a full two minutes in silence before realizing that he wasn't going to say what was wrong. He was a boy, so boys didn't really like discussing feelings on a good day. She really didn't want to push him on this since it obviously upset him.

"It's fine. Let's talk about it later." Spencer soothed, interlacing their fingers again and he nodded gratefully, but turned his gaze fully to the window.

"Just… just know it's not you." he finally said softly, and she squeezed his hand reassuringly.

* * *

Despite the damper on the train ride, they had a really fun afternoon together. Although they had both been through Philly before, school field trips and what not, they wanted to do all the touristy things all over again, together.

They strolled through the museum, visited the Liberty Bell, and walked hand in hand through the aquarium. Spencer watched Toby carefully as he observed the underwater creatures. His eyes seemed to change, ghosts of his past shining through. She wasn't sure what was going through his head, but she was starting to realize there was a lot more to Toby than he let on.

"Ever been swimming with dolphins?" Spencer asked him, smiling as she saw the way the mammals were drawn to her partner.

He placed his hand near the glass and they attempted to nudge it, but the barrier did little to help. He smiled slightly at their stubborn actions. "Nah. The only ones I've ever seen were here. How about you?"

Spencer sighed. "As a Hastings, fun vacations were never really a thing. We only ever went places that stimulated our intellect or awkward family gatherings. I just thought you seemed to have a connection to them. I mean, they obviously like you." she teased.

He chuckled. "I've always envied them… maybe not the ones here so much since they're in tanks, but the ones in the ocean. It must be so freeing, being able to go anywhere and do anything whenever you want. What I would give for that sort of freedom."

Spencer watched him carefully, his eyes growing somber as he slowly withdrew his hand from the glass shield.

"Toby…" she began cautiously but she remembered earlier, and decided not to press him.

He looked over however when she spoke.

She forced a smile. "Forget it."

He nodded slowly, seeming confused, but squeezed her hand and pulled her along to enjoy more of what the aquarium had to offer.

"You know…" she started, this time much more upbeat and a little teasing. "You should really wear more blue. Even just being near water your eyes are so blue they're almost blinding. I could drown in those gorgeous ones of yours." she flirted, pressing herself against him and kissing his neck affectionately.

He blushed typically. "Maybe I will. I've been thinking I should probably get some new clothes… maybe some that actually fit." he added, tugging at the front of his sweatshirt that was probably an extra large. Toby was a slim guy so it looked like he could fit two of himself in it at the very least.

Spencer suddenly grinned, which made him cower back a little in fear.

"Why don't we go today? I have got a credit card and a whole afternoon to kill!" she suggested excitedly, sounding far more like Hanna than herself.

Toby chuckled. "I can't ask you to do that. I've got some money saved up from mowing lawns and working construction and stuff…"

Spencer squeezed his arm. "Come on, Toby. _Please_… it'll be so much fun for me, worth way more than the money I'll be spending. _Please_?" she pouted, pulling out her soulful puppy dog eyes that may not work on her parents, but some of the girls were immune.

He shook his head amusedly. "I am never going to be able to say no to you…"

She clapped her hands excitedly as he threw an arm over her shoulder and led her out of the aquarium.

"You're the best!" she exclaimed happily, hugging his side as they strode into the sunlight.

* * *

When Toby first stepped out of the dressing room in proper fitting faded jeans and a soft blue t-shirt, Spencer's heart actually skipped a beat.

He looked so nervous she tried not to laugh. He obviously wasn't used to so much positive attention.

"It's weird, huh? Seeing me… like this." he said quietly, hands in his pockets, his usual discomfort stance.

She shook her head, giggling a little. "I just don't know why you've hidden under your clothes and your hair for so long." She ran a hand through his shaggy hair. "I mean, I know you have your reasons… but I just meant that you're gorgeous. It's nice to see you actually show it."

He blushed a deep red and she leaned up to kiss him soundly on the mouth.

"But regardless, it doesn't matter what I think; what matters is what you think. Do you like it?" she asked hopefully, knowing it was very casual, normal attire but also aware that Toby might need some time to get used to it.

He looked over himself in the mirror for the first time and his eyes widened.

"Uh… yeah. I guess." he said, sounding surprised by his own answer.

She grinned and linked their arms.

Seeing her standing next to him, looking all sorts of beautiful, he was starting to feel like this may actually be real. They suddenly looked a lot more like a couple.

"I can't wait to show you off. Come on, let's try on more stuff." she suggested.

He stared at himself in the mirror an extra beat. "Maybe you're right… maybe I should stop hiding so much…"

Toby ran a hand through his overly long hair subjectively.

* * *

Spencer sipped at her coffee at the outside table, watching a couple small birds pecking at the ground and feeling fantastic. She and Toby had an amazing afternoon. He had gotten basically an entire new wardrobe and they had a lot of fun with it, trying on some ridiculous stuff. Her stomach muscles actually hurt from laughing so much. Spencer herself had found a couple of nice things like the floral short summer dress she was presently changed into.

Toby was currently a store down, at the barber, getting his hair cut. Thankfully boys' haircuts take very little time so she told him to meet her for coffee when he was done.

She leaned her chin on the palm of her hand, biting her lip. She hoped Toby wasn't doing all this to impress her, or just seek her approval. She adored him just the way he was.

"Spencer?" a familiar female voice came.

Spencer looked up to see Aria and Hanna, linked arms, and observing her strangely.

"Hey! Come sit." Spencer greeted, gesturing to the empty seats at her table.

"What are you doing here all alone? You missed last period. We thought you were sick." Aria said, sitting in the seat next to her.

Spencer chewed her thumb. "Um… well actually…"

She suddenly shut up when she saw who was walking towards her, looking like he was straight out of a magazine. Toby too had dressed in clothes from their shopping trip and was wearing dark jeans, a white fitted t-shirt and a black leather jacket, along with sporting a new shorter, cleaner hairdo. Spencer leaped out of her seat and tackled him, kissing him enthusiastically on the mouth.

"You look amazing! Do you like it?" she asked eagerly.

He laughed at her over-enthusiasm, his arms around her waist. "If it gets this reaction, definitely." He leaned down to kiss her again and she reciprocated happily, losing herself in the feel of him for a moment before finally breaking them apart.

She couldn't stop grinning up at him, caressing his face. "Finally I can fully see your handsome face."

Toby smiled and then seemed to notice her friends finally and blushed. "Hi guys." he said quietly, not really knowing them all that well and certainly not expecting them.

Both girls were gaping at him.

"I knew you'd look super hot with short hair. I totally called it." Hanna said proudly, smiling giddily.

Toby turned scarlet and chuckled awkwardly while Aria and Spencer laughed at their friend. "Uh, thanks, Hanna."

"Toby, come sit down. I'm sorry, we didn't know you guys were here together. Spencer was just about to explain." Aria apologized quickly.

He sat down between her and his sort of girlfriend, their hands interlaced.

"Wait a second." Hanna interrupted before Toby could respond. "Did you two skip school this afternoon?" They both glanced at each other. "Oh my god! Spencer Hastings skipped a class! Spence, you've never even missed a homework question before and now you're a total bad ass! Man, I respect you so much more now."

The other three laughed at her. Hanna was so adorably funny in that way. She just was so bright and full of energy.

"We just… decided we wanted to get away for an afternoon. We explored the city and did some shopping and overall had an awesome day." Spencer explained, smiling happily over at Toby who looked just as pleased. "It was definitely worth missing a few repetitive classes."

"Agreed." Toby inputted, squeezing her hand under the table before rising from his seat. "I'm going to go get a coffee. Anybody want anything?" He looked to the other two girls who still hadn't ordered anything.

Aria stood. "I'll get mine and Han's. You don't deserve the glare I get every time after I order my specialty, and Hanna's is so specialized you're guaranteed to sound like you're getting a latte for the head of some high fashion company. Too much skim this and no foam that. Trust me, I'm saving you." she promised kindly, grinning at him.

He chuckled at the small girl and gestured her forward. He paused by Spencer and leaned down to speak to her quietly. "Do you want anything? Refill? Snack?"

She shook her head, smiling sweetly at him. "You're too sweet, but no, I'm fine. Any more caffeine and I'll probably be foaming at the mouth later. That'd be unattractive."

He shook his head amusedly at her. "Like that's even possible." he teased, referring to the last comment rather than the more obvious choice. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head before following Aria inside.

Spencer couldn't help but sigh dreamily as she watched him go.

* * *

Inside, Aria placed the complicated orders and Toby just asked for something so ridiculously simple, she had to send him an annoyed look to tease him.

He laughed at her expression. "Sorry, Aria, but I'm just an easygoing guy, even when it comes to coffee."

Aria's smile turned softer, more kind-hearted and genuine. "I've noticed. I know we don't know each other very well at all, but I just wanted to say, I'm really glad you and Spencer are hitting it off."

He swallowed awkwardly, still getting used to accepting compliments. He never really got many until Spencer had waltzed unannounced into his life.

Aria continued, noticing his discomfort. "You're good for her, Toby. You ground her. Let her relax a little. Getting Spencer to relax… well, let's just say we've all been trying forever. The girl has been an impenetrable wall. But I see how she is with you; she really cares about you. Be careful with her though; she comes from an intense family, which can make her sort of intense about some things. Not everyone can handle it."

He sighed. "We all have our issues. It's just a matter of finding someone who will look past them or work with you to fix them. I promise you, I will never hurt Spencer."

Aria observed him skeptically. "You know, that's a line I've heard many times before. But this time… this time I think I can actually count on you. I know you care about her just as much."

He nodded. "Any advice? On making it last?"

She smiled more broadly. "I think you're doing well enough on your own… but things to know about Spencer? Hmm. One: Her family may be the most mixed up thing in the world, but they're her family, and she will always think of them in the highest regard, even when they don't deserve it. It can be frustrating to be supportive at those times, but fight it on her and you'll have a war on your hands. Two: if she says she's fine, don't believe her. EVER. Spencer likes to keep things to herself, especially the tough stuff. But if she bottles up everything, she'll eventually crack. And thirdly; the key to Spencer's heart is just unconditional love. Give her a reason to trust that you won't go anywhere, and she'll hold you in her heart forever. I promise."

Toby smiled. "That I can do."

Aria smiled. "That's what I like to hear."

The pair made their way back to the table outside to rejoin the other two.

* * *

About an hour later, Toby excused himself to throw out the empty cups and go to the bathroom. As soon as he was out of earshot, the other two honed in on the youngest Hastings.

"Alright, where in the hell did you find him? I mean, he's so cool! He knows how to fix _motorcycles_!" Hanna exclaimed, like he had solved world hunger.

Aria rolled her eyes. "He's really sweet, Spence. It's weird how… normal he is. I mean, we've known him for years but I had no idea he was so… mature and cool to talk to. He's just really easygoing and chill. He's so different from the other high school boys."

Spencer smiled. "I think that's one of the reasons why I like him so much. He's definitely not like any of the other guys I've dated. He's… special."

"Yeah, she's totally in love with him." Hanna said matter-of-factly.

"Guys?" Emily's surprised voice came and the three turned to see her walking up the sidewalk, looking confused and a little hurt at the fact that the three of them were hanging out and she hadn't been invited.

"Em! Hey. We just all ran into each other, much the same way as you just did." Aria supplied amusedly.

"Well, Spencer's on a date, and me and Aria were just bored and wanted to check out that new funky jewelry store for the nineties party next week." Hanna added as she touched up her lip gloss.

"A date, huh? With who?" Emily teased Spencer, only to have Toby come out of the door at that moment. She stared for an extra beat at him, barely recognizing the guy she had known for years.

He sort of waved awkwardly. "Hey Emily."

"Toby?! Your hair… you look… hey." she muttered practically under her breath finally, after some disbelieving word searching.

The other three laughed; Toby and Emily soon joining in.

"Sorry." she said with her bright smile. "It just took me by surprise."

"He felt like changing things up and I felt like some retail therapy. It was a win-win." Spencer explained, smiling affectionately at her soon-to-be boyfriend who finally sat next to her again.

Emily pulled up a chair to expand the group once more.

* * *

"So what brought you into Philly, Em?" Spencer asked conversationally as Aria and Hanna bought their return tickets to Rosewood for the train.

"Dentist appointment. My mom has a friend who's a dentist that practices out here. She hasn't gone to anyone else since college, so she refuses to let me either." Emily explained.

"Got them!" Hanna exclaimed, fanning herself with her ticket as they lined up to board.

Hanna, Emily and Aria led the way through the train when they finally boarded, chatting animatedly about something that happened the last time they all took the train together with Ali. Toby held back with Spencer as she linked their arms.

"Sorry I don't talk much…" Toby muttered awkwardly. There was a reason he was somewhat of a social outcast.

Spencer playfully hit his chest. "Don't be silly, my friends _love_ you. I'm glad they had this chance to get to know you a bit. I want my friends to like you; to understand why I like you so much. I'm sorry they got in the way of us hanging out though."

"No, I'm glad we all hung out for a bit. Your friends are really great." he told her honestly as they finally settled in across from the other three.

* * *

By the end of the train ride, Toby had learned a whole lot more about Spencer than he could imagine, and he couldn't be happier about that fact.

Spencer would argue that her friends decided it was Embarrass Spencer Day.

"Fair warning Toby, when Spencer makes coffee it gives the rest of us the shakes."

"If you ever need help studying, Spencer basically has the dictionary memorized. She can quote things word for word from the encyclopedia."

"We should tell him about the time Spencer first started taking AP French and would start thinking out loud in French randomly and-"

"_Guys!_" Spencer hissed in annoyance, but couldn't help but laugh a little. It's not as though they were spouting lies. "Don't listen to them, Toby."

Toby was cracking up at all of their input, and how they all would overlap each other excitedly, laughing at the expense of their friend but their voices filled with affection.

"OR-" Hanna started again excitedly, having an epiphany.

Spencer shot her a look, trying not to laugh herself. "Han! SHH!"

Toby covered Spencer's mouth with his hand, pulling her legs over his lap to reach her better and laughed with the others. "Shh, ignore Spencer. Go on." Toby encouraged amusedly as Spencer playfully wrestled with him.

The other three were inwardly squealing at how adorable the pair of them looked all clustered together. They were both laughing together and gazing into each other's eyes like they were in their own world.

"I love learning more about you. Keep quiet so I can hear." Toby teased her cutely.

Spencer giggled into him, his shirt in her fist still from fighting him. "Fine, but it's your turn later. You owe me."

"Sorry ladies, continue." Toby said, grinning at the girl in his lap, happy with their compromise.

Aria chewed her tongue for a moment, before continuing with their fun.


	4. Chapter 4

Sorry for the wait. This chapter was reaaaaally a big deciding factor for a lot of drama in the future. I had to figure out basically the next ten chapters, all the tiny details, in order to decide if this one would work. FINALLY I managed to find a way around everything, so I can now post. I chopped this chapter and took from bits of my year old writing and molded it with some of my new, so if anything seems off, or wrong, let me know? :) I can't fix it unless I know about it! And I only want to deliver you guys the best.

That being said, Toby's middle name is inspired from Mr. Keegan Allen's middle name. All my stories have that being his middle name, but I don't remember if I've had that in any of the previous stories I've posted. Also, there's a line in here that I stole from Keegan's Troix interview about his first ever kiss. That does not belong to me, that belongs to the beauty that is Keegan. FINALLY I name drop someone very special to me in here. It's not in a major way, but I'm hopingggg she sees it ;) I do change the last name though to keep her safe from all those internet creepers out there ;) No one messes with my babygirl.

All in all, I love you guys! I have most of the next chapter written so hopefully you will see another update in a couple days :)

Enjoy!

**I do not own Pretty Little Liars.**

* * *

Spencer was almost thankful to part ways with her friends. She adored them of course, but Toby was learning way too much about her embarrassing traits and she wasn't getting any of his in return. It was unfair. She wanted to know everything about him; all the little quirks he had and habits and whatever it was that made him _him_. Because _he_ was wonderful.

As soon as her friends disappeared around the corner, Toby suddenly pulled her close, practically knocking the breath out of her in surprise as she very nearly crashed into his chest. He smiled at her breathless look and leaned down to capture her lips in his.

Their lips met gently for a few moments before he broke them apart, smiling lovingly at her. "I meant what I said, about loving learning more about you. I look forward to learning more tonight."

She smiled, trying not to gush over how cute he was out loud. "And I look forward to you repaying the favor and telling me absolutely everything there is to know about Toby Cavanaugh." She paused for a moment. "What's your middle name?"

"Phillip." he replied amusedly.

She hummed as she mulled it over and then she smiled, seemingly accepting his answer. "I like it. It suits you."

He smiled in return. He never really considered himself if he liked or disliked his name or how it suited him. He just sort of had to go along with it, so that's what he did.

Spencer's eyes suddenly widened. "Is your real name Tobias?!"

He snickered. "No, it's just Toby. My mom actually wanted to name me Tobias for some reason, but my dad thought it was too Shakespeare and preferred just Toby. I can't say I disagree with him."

Spencer smiled, squeezing his hand as they walked through Rosewood. "Tobias means 'God is good'. I can understand her thinking myself." she told him bravely, although her tone turned shy towards the end and she averted her gaze from his.

He typically blushed, warmth spreading from his toes to his fingertips at her words. Who in the world was this girl? He never knew people could be this decent. She really sounded sincere and they had barely spent time together. He had had friends in the past, not so much lately, but he didn't remember ever feeling like this. He was falling for her harder every minute they spent together.

"You're the sweetest." he told her honestly.

She linked their arms so she could lean her head against his shoulder and they simply walked in comfortable silence until they reached her place.

"Just let me throw my school stuff inside and I'll be right back." she promised.

He nodded and waited outside the gate, the same place they had kissed the night before, enjoying the trip down memory lane.

Spencer rushed up the stairs to her room, throwing her school bag in the corner and quickly fixing her hair and makeup. She didn't wear a lot of makeup to begin with, but she wanted Toby to think she was beautiful. With his new look, he was even more gorgeous than she could imagine, and she wanted to feel like she was equally attractive. She sprayed a bit of her favorite perfume on her neck and wrists and between her small bit of cleavage for good measure before grabbing a clutch-sized purse and rushing back out of the door.

Not one person from her family called out to ask where she was going or for how long.

When she got to the end of her driveway, she saw Toby was still waiting patiently for her, not looking one ounce bored or annoyed.

He smiled upon seeing her and she linked their arms again as they started walking to his house.

* * *

They finally were on their way out of town, the radio on low as Spencer horded Toby with questions which he patiently answered. He didn't mind telling Spencer anything. He was flattered she was so curious to get his views on things or learn things about his past.

"How did you get that scar?" she asked, running her fingertip along the white line on his arm.

"First time riding a skateboard. I was a moron and thought I should learn on a steep hill. I did about seven somersaults and sprained my wrist. My mom freaked out when she saw me."

He laughed at the memory, remembering her shouting for his father since her son was bleeding from multiple places. He had grinned at her, his teeth bloody from the cut in his lip and she nearly passed out.

As a kid, you bounce back fast. Although it hurt, he was still exhilarated from the experience when he got home.

As Toby drove, Spencer watched his face light up as he recalled the memory to her. She saw the incredible affection he had when he spoke of his mother. It was obvious he had been very close to her before she passed away last year.

"Do you miss her?" she found herself asking before thinking, and then wished she could take the words back. Of course he did.

His face pained for a moment but he continued on, his voice just as strong as before. "Every day. She was everything you could ever ask for in a mother. She was an incredible woman. Ever since she passed, my dad changed." He paused. "Why do you ask?"

Spencer wasn't sure if she should say anything. She hadn't told anyone before.

"I just… I used to wonder if people would miss me if I went." she confessed softly and felt his hand stiffen in their intertwined position.

Toby didn't speak for a moment and, chancing a look at his face, she saw his expression was stony. She doubted he had even blinked since she admitted it.

He pulled off of the road onto a quiet hill. She saw the sign and realized they were at Rosewood's border. He turned to her when the car was shut off.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked, sharper than he meant to, but he was desperate to know if he was overreacting or if she really was admitting what he thought she was.

She shrugged and stared at their joined hands, refusing to look him in his honest and scared eyes. "Everyone wonders that sometimes..."

But Toby was smarter than that. He caught the way she worded it. "Spencer… you didn't say you wondered _which_ people would miss you if you died. You wondered_ if_ people would, as in, would _anyone_ miss you. Please tell me the truth."

She sighed. "It was a very long time ago, Toby. I'm fine now. Things just get tough with my family sometimes and with my friends and life can just be too much sometimes, you know? Sometimes bad things all seem to happen at once…"

Toby still didn't speak. She squeezed his hands in hers.

"I'm not _suicidal_, Toby. I just… sometimes I wanted to run away. Get away from Rosewood. Get away from all the crap this place throws at us sometimes. It feels like everyone here is the same. I just want something different. Like you." she added warmly, trying to turn the conversation around to something more upbeat.

Toby seemed to accept that. "Do me a favor then."

"Anything." she replied with confidence.

He smiled at her assured manner. "If you ever get the urge to run away again, call me first. There's nothing much here for me besides you."

She smiled at that and they spent a moment gazing at each other smiling goofily.

"Want to get some fresh air?" he asked, gesturing to the beautiful view of the city from the hilltop.

She nodded happily, hopping out of the car and wrapping her arm around his middle.

They settled down on the grassy hill and overlooked Rosewood, the sky turning to night and the town lights beginning to shine up from below.

"It looks innocent from up here." Toby commented. "But you're right. I can't say I've never wanted to run away. I've been trying to find a way out of my house since my mom died."

Spencer cuddled into his chest as they lay back to stare at the stars poking out of the gradual darkness.

"Maybe we can do it together. One day. Get out of here and start somewhere new." she murmured.

Toby nodded but his throat closed up. He had never had someone want to plan any kind of future with him, not even a get-together a week away. Having Spencer want to plan a life with him was incredible. He placed a kiss to her forehead and lay beside her quietly as the sun set.

As the black swallowed up the sky, she rested her head on his chest so she could hear his heartbeat. It pumped away at a steady rhythm, the sound comforting her more than she could express; because like a heartbeat, Toby was reliable. He was solid, dependable; he was already her rock. She could tell him stuff she hadn't told anyone before and he just accepted them and listened and didn't judge her or belittle her problems. He lost a parent and she just didn't get enough attention. But he never made her feel like she was a snob or spoiled brat even though he had been through things much worse.

"Can I ask you something?" Spencer finally piped up, feeling her courage wavering already.

He turned to look at her. "Anything." he said, repeating her earlier sentiment.

"Earlier at school… I saw you with Jenna. Things looked pretty heated." she admitted apprehensively, not sure if she was overstepping her place.

Toby grimaced, but didn't look mad. "Yeah… we have our… um issues."

Spencer waited patiently to see if he would continue, the implied question hanging in the air. Unlike earlier, he actually follow through.

"Jenna was upset with me because I was out last night and she expected me to be home. She found out rather quickly, although I have no clue how, that I was with you. She's not exactly thrilled I'm dat- um, hanging out with one of Alison's best friends." he corrected himself quickly. He was new to this, but he knew just because they kissed it didn't mean they were officially dating or anything.

Spencer didn't seem to catch his slip-up, or lack thereof, and contemplated this new information. "She and Ali seem to have had this automatic rivalry… it didn't help that Jenna showed up wearing the same costume as her at Noel Kahn's Halloween party to make her debut into Rosewood."

Toby remembered that day. He obviously hadn't been invited to the party, but Jenna had made sure to model the tiny outfit for him. He hadn't understood at the time, but that was the beginning of a very dark future between them.

Emily had approached him earlier that day, curious about her new neighbours, knowing of the recent marriage between his dad and this new woman. She asked about his thoughts on his new step-sister and he could only muster up one description.

"_She gets what she wants."_

He hadn't known then how true that was.

Spencer dragged him out of the past with her voice. "You okay? You went somewhere just now."

Toby focused his gaze back on her and forced a smile. "Just thinking about when she first moved in. It's only been eight months, but it seems like so much longer."

Spencer watched him carefully. Something was stirring in his eyes. It reminded her of earlier. "Toby… on the train earlier…"

But the shadow in his eyes only darkened and she grasped his hands in hers.

"We don't have to talk about that until you're ready, okay?" she told him assuredly. She was grateful when some light returned to his eyes and he looked back at her with a genuine smile, although it was small.

"Thank you." is all he could think to say.

She pressed a quick kiss to his lips.

"That being said, I never did get to finish my Q&A…." she teased, welcoming his hold as he pulled her closer.

He laughed at her words. He had no idea why she was so interested in learning more about him. He was pretty much as mediocre as they came. But the excitement in her eyes at the thought of getting to know him better made him realize that that was all in the eye of the beholder.

"Ask away." he told her amusedly, relishing in the warmth of her hand in his.

* * *

After many questions about things Toby was surprised she cared to know, the wind picked up. Instead of climbing back in the car, Toby just grabbed a blanket from the backseat and wrapped it around her, but she insisted on sharing so they huddled together on the hill.

Her interrogation continued, but was much more teasing now. "First kiss?"

Toby licked his lips, trying not to laugh. "Fifth grade. Emma Burke. I kissed her outside of school after last bell and ran home with my heart going a mile a minute…"

Spencer giggled, imagining a younger Toby grinning from ear to ear. "So did you guys date for a while?"

He shook his head. "Nah, it never turned into anything. It never really does at that age." he said amusedly.

It made Spencer smile again, but sparked her interest as well. "First date?"

Toby tilted her chin up to align their faces. "This one." he murmured before crossing the distance between their lips and kissing her softly.

Spencer ran her hands down his chest as they kissed, not wanting it to end any time soon. Like the few times in the past, their kissing moved to the next level quickly. They were still in the honeymoon stage of their relationship where they couldn't help but indulge in each other every chance they had.

Toby pulled her on top of him, letting his hands run up the backs of her thighs underneath her dress. Feeling her shiver at his touch, he let his palms make circles up her thighs, brushing her bare skin and causing her body temperature to jolt to the top of the thermometer.

His lips found her neck again and descended to follow the dip in her neckline. His nose picked up on the scent of her perfume; it was stronger near the valley between her breasts, and he realized she had been hopeful that they would get like this. It only made him want her more.

Her hands had already tangled in his hair, holding him in place, and she blushed when she felt him sucking on a spot on her neck. She wasn't sure if it was on purpose or not, but she was sure it would leave a mark. She sort of adored the idea of him possessively marking her as his.

Spencer had kissed a few boys in her lifetime, some from spin the bottle or silly games like that, and some the regular way, but when Toby's mouth sought hers again, she finally understood what it felt like to want sex. There was something tugging at her low in her belly that was egging her on. Her body wanted more than this, but she remembered earlier on the train when she had tried to speed things up. Although he wasn't backing down yet, she knew they had to stop before it came to that again.

She extracted her mouth from his prison grasp and breathed heavily. Toby understood and rolled off of her, panting, leaving her a little cooler at the absence of his touch.

She sighed. "It's not that I want to stop. But I feel like we should."

"Is this because of earlier?" he asked quietly, stroking the backs of her hands with his thumbs.

She half-shrugged. "Sort of. I don't want to rush you into anything or put unintentional pressure on you, Toby. I'm not into you for that, although you're very good at it." Spencer flirted with a coy smile. "But it's me too. I've never… done that. I haven't done much more than second base." she admitted.

Toby seemed surprised. "That's nothing to be embarrassed about, Spence. I would've waited for the right person if I could have."

A beat too late, Toby realized what he had said. Spencer's head had snapped up, and she was watching him warily.

He sighed. "You're wondering why I pushed you away earlier…well. I… there's a lot you don't know about me." he murmured kindly, changing tact. "I really like you, Spencer. It's not just who you are, but the feeling I get when I'm around you. When we're kissing, it feels amazing. But I'm not used to feeling that way when kissing someone. And apparently sometimes those memories get in the way of enjoying the present."

Spencer was still confused. "But I thought you said you've never had a girlfriend…"

He sighed and looked over her shoulder at anywhere but her innocent face. "I haven't. My past experiences of that type… were not by choice."

She understood immediately and was shocked. "Do you mean…?" She paused, noticing by the pain in his face that what she was thinking was exactly what he meant. "All the way?" she whispered, feeling tears form in her eyes.

He didn't vocally reply but bobbed his head once in acknowledgment.

She swallowed as she absorbed this. Of course, being a daughter of two lawyers, she had heard of things like this happening. Most sexual assault charges with men being the victims weren't taken to court or even brought to a lawyer because of the nature of the charge. Men don't want to be considered weak but it also had to do with the likelihood of winning a case when a woman is the assaulter and the man the victim. Based on the stereotype of women to men along with the physical factors involved in rape, it seems unlikely that a woman could force a man into something sexual without some sort of consensual agreement.

She found it painful to imagine sweet, innocent, loving Toby in such a situation.

Suddenly, it all clicked into place, and Spencer shot into a sitting position.

"Spencer?" Toby asked worriedly, sitting up and reaching for her hand again.

But she pulled back and looked at him in horror as tears poured down her face. "It was Jenna, wasn't it?"

_You have no idea how scary she can really be_.

Toby seemed shocked, and when he didn't reply, she knew she was right.

"That BITCH!" she screamed out, pushing off of the grassy hill in fury and beginning to pace in front of him as he leapt to his feet to calm her.

"Spencer, it doesn't matter. I want _you_ not her. Let's talk about something else-" he tried desperately, not having meant to upset her.

"How DARE she! Who in the hell does she think she is?! God, it all makes sense now! The way you act around her and her little jabs the other day and Ali's remark and why you pushed me away when things heated up-"

"Alison said something?" Toby asked, seriously confused.

She nodded, looking awkward now. "She implied that you two were sleeping together. I thought it was just Ali being Ali."

"Is that what upset you?" he asked, remembering the tears she had tried to hide.

She shook her head. "No, she just said something mean about me. I was mostly upset about how difficult she can be over things that don't really matter. I mean, who cares if you and I are different. If we like each other, what else matters?"

Toby was relieved she felt that way. It was sort of obvious what with the fact that she was here with him now, but it was nice to have it verbally confirmed.

"I'm sorry this isn't easier for you." he told her as he eased her back down to their previous position, cuddled together on the hill.

She caressed his face. "Toby, when I'm with you, things_ are_ easy. The rest of the world can get over it. I'd pick you over them any day." she told him fiercely.

This girl had to stop being so incredible. Toby tried to control the itch at the corner of his eyes but he simply distracted himself by pulling her into a slow but passionate kiss, sucking on her bottom lip before pulling back.

Spencer was breathless when he pulled away, that newly familiar burning low in her stomach. She wanted him, in every way. But basing things on what he had told her, he wouldn't be ready for that for a long time. She knew she was falling way too fast for this guy. But even now she had a feeling he would be _that_ guy. He was so gentle and sweet and kind. He was perfect for her first time. And she realized _she_ wanted to be the one to show him that sex could be beautiful too.

Toby was staring at the ground now, clearly lost in his thoughts, his expression sad and haunting.

"Are you okay?"

He seemed to remember where he was and forced a smile at her. "Just… thinking. I just… I never thought I'd find someone like you. I wish I could've waited to experience it all firsthand with you. But what's done is done."

The statement made her stomach twist into knots again, feeling sick at the fact that Toby's innocence had been _stolen _from him. Especially by Jenna, who, based on her dating rep at school, could have any guy she wanted.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked softly, watching him warily, letting him play with her fingers.

He shook his head. "Eventually. I've never told anyone about it let alone tried to talk about it. But with you, I just might be able to. Just not yet." he explained, hoping she wouldn't be offended. It was just such a dark place to drag up and discuss. He didn't want to feel like that ever again and reliving it would be horrible, especially around someone who made him feel so whole. It would almost… taint what he had now. And right now, he didn't want that. With Spencer he was completely free.

Spencer nodded understandingly. "No rush, Toby. I know we haven't been close very long at all, but I want you to know, regardless of what happens between us I'm always here for you if you need anything."

Toby smiled. "And the same for you, sweetheart."

She smiled back happily and scooted over to cuddle into him again. Toby wrapped his arms around her easily, secretly pleased that she wanted to be so close to him. He was used to people avoiding being anywhere near him. Most people had some sort of crazy idea that he was dangerous, like he was secretly a sociopath and that's why he was so introvert.

There was silence between them for a few minutes as they simply relished in the moment of being together, away from all the chaos the town they were overlooking brought. Here, they were safe, free from the struggles they would have to eventually go back to. Right now, it was just them against the world.

"One last question…" Spencer said light-heartedly, nuzzling into Toby's shoulder.

He chuckled at her curiosity. "Shoot."

"You said you've never had a girlfriend… well, a proper girlfriend… but are you interested in having one?" she asked slowly, letting her fingers imitate legs and walk up his thigh to settle on the top of his knees playfully.

He caught her fingers in his and played with them again. Spencer was starting to notice how often he did that. It was clear he loved holding her hand.

"I'm only interested in having one if I can have it with a certain girl…" he explained fake-desolately, guessing accurately where she was going with this.

Spencer giggled, knowing she had been caught.

"So…" Spencer said expectantly, although he could detect the nerves in her voice.

"So…?" Toby replied inquisitively, pretending to be oblivious and trying not to laugh.

"If I was to ask you to be my boyfriend, I'd have a chance?" she asked.

"I thought you said only one more question! That is past the limit." he scolded lightheartedly.

Spencer blushed, but before she could reply, his mouth covered hers gently. She immediately relaxed, caressing his cheek with one hand as he pulled back. "I'm falling for you harder every minute we're together. I'd be honored to call you my girlfriend."

Damn it, his sappiness was getting out of hand. He'd have to find a filter.

But Spencer didn't seem to agree. She grinned brightly and threw her arms around his neck, kissing him enthusiastically on the mouth. "I'd absolutely love to be your girlfriend." she breathed when she broke their kiss, as if it wasn't obvious.

He beamed back at her, unable to believe his luck. What had he done to deserve her? She was so out of his league, but even he could tell she was crazy about him.

"It won't be easy dating me. My family is insane and Ali takes some getting used to, but I'm going to hog you to myself the most of the time so you won't have to worry too much about it." she gushed excitedly and he couldn't stop smiling, she looked so happy. It was like he just gave her Christmas.

"And I've got a complicated family too, Spence. We'll work it all out. Together." he added for emphasis, giddy himself over his new status. He had a girlfriend! He really wasn't expecting that to happen anytime soon…or ever.

Spencer snuggled into him, content to look over the new town with her new boyfriend. Bliss couldn't get much better than this.

Both of them felt on top of the world, but they were too young to understand then that all good things must come to an end.

For next week, things would get turned upside down.

* * *

A/N Toby's first kiss was a reference to my bff Emma, who I absolutely adore :) On here she's SafePlaceToRead (with dots between). Burke is not her last name, so you can't go and creep on her completelyyyy.

Anyone have any guesses for what's coming up next in this story? The drama is about to kick-off ;)


	5. Chapter 5

Things to keep in mind: The girls are younger. They are more impressionable. They give in easier to peer pressure. They are more naive. And they are only fourteen/fifteen. Losing Alison and having -A torturing them has certainly caused the show's version of the girls to grow up rather fast and be more paranoid. Sometimes you have to actually lose a toxic friend in order to realize just how poisonous they were to you.

Thank you lovelies for your patience x3 Your feedback has been INCREDIBLE!

Happy Good Friday! Enjoy your Easter weekend! I'll try to have another update out before the weekend is over :)

**I do not own Pretty Little Liars.**

* * *

Toby didn't like to think of himself as naïve, but he had to admit that he should really know better sometimes.

Spencer had warned Toby plenty of Alison, and he had already seen firsthand how cruel she could be, but he had never expected her to approach him outside of his house the week after he and Spencer had declared themselves official with the proposition she had.

He had been taking out the several garbage bags he had accumulated from his mucking out of the garage. Now that it was summer, he finally had time to go through everything. His parents let him do whatever he wanted in there. They kept the important things like old high school diplomas and tax information in the office in the house, so he had pretty free reign over what stayed and what went. If all went well, he planned on making the garage more of a getaway spot when he needed to get out of the house.

The only problem? Jenna had taken a sudden liking to the garage now that he was in it all the time. Right now, she was in there, kicking her legs from her spot on a big cardboard box as she texted on her phone, watching him lift and reorganize things in her arachnid way. He swore it felt like he was stuck on a web, just biding his time until she decided to descend and feed on him. Although she wasn't in to cannibalism, thankfully, his sanity was certainly still getting a decent bite out of it.

When Toby was sorting the bags into the different bins at the end of his driveway, Alison sidled up and leaned against his parents' car. She was twirling a strand of her blonde hair around her finger, smirking in her queen bee way.

"So you look different these days." she told him when he raised his eyebrows at her, clearly questioning her presence.

Rather random for the visit, but when was Alison DiLaurentis ever predictable? He shrugged as he continued sorting the trash. "Yeah, I decided to change it up."

"You decided or _Spencer_ decided?" Ali pressed mischievously. Toby had noticed in the few times that he had heard Alison talking to others that she usually asked questions like she already knew the answer, both the right answer and what your answer would be. Today was no exception.

"_I_ decided." Toby replied coolly, not really interested in talking to her. It had been a week since he and Spencer had made things official, and although he knew that Spencer was best friends with Ali, he wasn't really interested in befriending Alison himself. He had seen her torture more kids than he could count on both hands.

Also, it was pretty obvious that she was working up to manipulating him. Implying that it was really Spencer's 'expectations' that caused his decision for change alerted him that she wasn't here to congratulate him on dating one of the most beautiful girls he had ever laid his eyes on.

"If you insist." she simpered. "But, that aside, you're looking pretty good lately."

Not really sure how to handle compliments, he shifted his weight on his feet uncomfortably. "Uh thanks."

Alison stepped closer and put her hand on his chest, flipping her hair back and looking up at him through her lashes. "You might even be reaching hottie level."

"Lucky me." he muttered sarcastically, stepping backwards to avoid her touch.

Ali laughed. Despite the sound supposed to be emanating amusement, it sent an uncomfortable chill down his spine.

"What do you want, Alison?" Toby asked and turned towards her, taking off his gloves and placing them on the closed lid of the plastic cylinders.

He caught the tiniest glimpse of confusion cross her face. It was clear she wasn't used to being rejected. But he had an idea of what she was trying to do and he wouldn't let her succeed.

"I want to know why you're dating Spencer." she told him bluntly.

He raised his eyebrows at her. "And why is that any of your business?"

She scoffed. "Spencer is my best friend. It's my job to look out for her. I get that you might not understand that since you don't _have_ any friends, but for the rest of us out there, we know what the job entails."

Toby's jaw tightened out of irritation. She hadn't hit a nerve like she suspected she did, but she was getting there.

"You don't need to pretend that you're doing this out of the goodness of your heart, Ali; I see right through you. Maybe Spencer wants to see the best in you, but I see you for who you really are." he replied coldly. "To answer your pointless question, I am dating Spencer because I _like_ her. Shocking, I know."

Alison's mouth twisted further in amusement. She hadn't expected Toby to get so irritated so fast. He was feistier than she expected; she liked that.

She stepped towards him again. He moved to back up for a second time but he was trapped against the fence dividing his yard with his neighbors'. Fear filled his veins. This position was too familiar to him; it was usually a different girl, but the look in her eyes was the same. Her blue eyes were blazing with power, control, and deceit.

"You like her because she was the only one desperate enough to go for you." Ali told him evilly. "But you don't know what you're missing, Toby. Your standards are too low. Looking like this… you could aim much higher."

"Like you?" Toby replied patronizingly, taking a wild guess at where this was heading.

Ali grinned, looking victorious that he agreed when really he was just giving her the answer he knew she was looking for. "_Just_ like me. Face it… you only are dating Spencer because you never thought you could get me. You might as well put an end to it now and come claim your prize."

Toby breathed in and out slowly, trying to find his patience.

Ali ran a hand down his chest sensually, leaning closer so her lips were right next to his ear. "I hear you like motorcycles. Ever thought about what it would be like to take me for a ride?"

The innuendo she was clearly making based on the sly grin on her face nearly made Toby choke in disgust. This girl was relentless.

"Why do you like me? Is it just because Spencer does?" he asked brazenly.

Ali rolled her eyes. "Of course not."

He plucked her hand off of him and gave it back to her. "Really? Because I'm pretty sure you're just here to see if you can somehow steal me away from Spencer so that you can dangle your 'victory' in front of her to hurt her more. I'm sure, after that, you'll twist it so she is under the allusion you did it for her own good and that she should be grateful. But it's not going to work. Because I don't want you, I want _her_. And that's not going to change. So you can pack up your sweet act and find someone else to bother." he told her lowly.

He knew losing his temper with Alison wasn't a smart move no matter which angle you looked at it from. If nothing else, she was Spencer's friend and he shouldn't be so rude to her, but he wasn't going to let Ali get away with trying to hurt Spencer. Not on his watch.

The fun, flirty expression disappeared off of her face instantly and was replaced with one of a clearly pissed off girl. Alison wasn't used to being rejected and it was obvious that she was not a fan of it.

"You'll regret this. I'll make sure of it." Ali growled at him.

Toby stepped around her. "Go ahead and try. Face it, Ali. It was about time someone told you when to shut up."

And with that, he started back towards the garage, already regretting his words. He should've known better than to taunt Alison DiLaurentis. She knew exactly how to make people feel pain.

Before he could disappear inside, another sinister voice joined the mix and Toby swore his day couldn't get much worse.

"I send you to take out the trash, and you end up forgetting some. Tsk tsk, Toby, I thought I taught you better than that." Jenna said, her green eyes narrowing in on Alison as her grin hit Cheshire level.

Toby didn't feel like now was the right time to point out to his step-sister that she hadn't 'sent' him to do anything, but he kept his mouth shut as he saw the fire spark between the two girls.

Ali caught the implication and scowled at her. "If he's spending time with you, he clearly has forgotten the definition of trash."

"Real rich, Alison, considering _you_ were the one who just got rejected." Jenna reminded her, raising her eyebrows deceitfully.

Alison's jaw went rigid. "Well you would know all about being rejected, wouldn't you, Jenna? Are you not the one who made a fool of herself flirting with Ian Thomas at field hockey practice the other day? He did not buy you asking about openings on the team for a second."

"And how would you know?"

"I have my sources." Ali replied, smiling like the cat that got the cream.

Jenna rolled her eyes. "Whatever, Alison. Why do you care anyways?"

"Oh, I don't. But that's Spencer's sister's boyfriend, so you might want to be careful. That girl is like a pitbull if you get in her way."

"You would know all about getting in people's way, huh?"

Alison smiled sinisterly. "Now, now, Jenna. Don't take your jealousy out on me. _Spencer_ is the one getting in the way of you and Toby, not me."

"Not for lack of trying on your part." Jenna spat, trying to remain cool. She hadn't known Alison knew, but she should have figured. That girl somehow knew everyone's secrets.

Alison smirked, loving the drama of a good cat fight. "I'm just looking out for Spencer. Seeing if Toby really is committed. Which, apparently he is, so looks like you're out of luck, hun."

Jenna took a swipe at her but Toby dove between them and pushed her back.

"Don't give her the satisfaction." Toby muttered to his step-sister.

Jenna shook him off, but stayed behind the imaginary line.

"Get lost, Alison. No one wants you here."

"That never stopped you. I think you should go back to where you came from, Jenna. I'm getting _really_ sick of seeing your face."

"Is that so? I'm sure it must be tiring being you… you see so many faces in the run of the day… well, run of the night I should say…" she added evilly, smug as hell.

Alison's mouth formed a straight line. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means, sweetie, that you spend more time in the backseats of cars than doing your homework… I may be unwanted here, but I'm no sl-"

Alison lunged for her with a battle cry, but Toby jumped between them again, struggling pushing each girl apart.

"Alison. Go. Home."

Alison wrenched herself away from her attack and fixed her hair. She sent a death glare towards Jenna.

"You want to fight dirty? I can fight dirty. This isn't the end of things. For either of you." she threatened, before pivoting on her heel and strutting away down the street.

Jenna yawned as if this was all some boring round of cards and started back towards the garage.

Toby, on the other hand, knew that wasn't an empty threat. Something bad was coming. Something really bad.

Despite his ill feelings, he hadn't known then that her revenge would be darker than he could ever imagine, and that his whole world would turn upside down.

But it wouldn't be long before he found out.

* * *

Toby was grateful that he had plans with Spencer after she finished shopping with her sister. He needed it after the chaos he had witnessed in his own driveway. He was still debating whether to clue his girlfriend in, but he wanted to have a positive night with her so it would just have to wait.

The brunette teen had brightened up when she spotted him through the glass doors in her living room. Practically bounding over in excitement, Spencer opened the doors to let him inside.

"Hey." she greeted, far too giddily, and wrapped her arms around his waist to hug him.

Toby felt himself instantly relax. She had that effect on him. "Hey." he murmured into her hair as he nuzzled into her neck, inhaling the familiar scent of her perfume.

When she pulled back, he tugged on her waist to draw her close again and kissed her long on the mouth. She hadn't been expecting it, but even so, his kisses always left her weak. Her knees turned to jelly, and, holding her steady, he backed her up so she was sitting on the armrest of the couch for support.

Spencer felt a flame spark in her veins and wanted more. She explored his lips with her own, gently guiding their entangled bodies backwards so she was lying beneath him on the couch.

Although they had only been getting to know each other for a little over a week, their passion for each other was already strong. There was this undeniable chemistry between them, and any time they delved into the physical side of their relationship, it came to the surface.

"To what do I owe this wonderful greeting?" Spencer giggled as her boyfriend planted affectionate kisses to the shallow bowl in her collarbone.

Toby contemplated telling her about Alison, and Alison and Jenna, but decided against it. He just wanted to forget about it for now. And there was no one better than Spencer to take his mind off of things and make him feel secure.

He smiled and trailed kisses across her face, pressing them to the end of her nose and edges of her cheek before she caught his mouth with hers again playfully, giggling at his ticklish kisses.

"I just missed you." he whispered before letting their lips meet again.

Spencer blushed, smiling joyfully through the kiss, and pulled back to catch her breath. "I missed you too." she admitted quietly, rolling them over and nestling her head on his chest so she was lying comfortably on top of him.

Toby's fingers twirled the ends of her hair, his other hand running up and down her back soothingly. He could honestly stay like this forever.

"So is there anything special you wanted to do tonight?" he asked her as he played with her hair.

She sat up a little so she could speak to his face rather than muffle it in his shoulder. "Um… well I'm up for anything. I figured we could just hang out and pick up dinner, or watch a movie, or the hot tub is even free so I could lend you something of my dad's… unless you'd rather go nude." she added impishly with a grin.

His face flushed red. "Um… I'm sort of afraid of your dad. And I think my clothes should stay on if we're going to try to take things slow… unless you're planning on shedding all of your layers?" he asked, raising his eyebrows at her amusedly.

She bit her lip, blushing just as badly as he was, and feeling annoyed with herself for letting her own forwardness backfire. "I um wasn't really planning on it."

Toby's smile broadened at the sight of her blush. He couldn't stop his Y-chromosome-driven eyes from roaming down her body. Just the thought of seeing her so exposed made him shudder.

She was watching him carefully, wondering what was going on in that head of his.

"I think that's a good call. Your legs are already driving me wild just like this. I don't know if I can handle seeing exactly how gorgeous the rest of you is." he flirted against her ear, kissing her neck tenderly.

It was true. Spencer was in the shortest shorts known to man. They were high-waisted dress shorts, paired with a long blouse and a cute preppy vest and torso belt. She had left her hair down since she knew Toby liked to play with it. Plus having it down made her feel prettier and she loved feeling pretty around Toby.

Naturally, he continued trailing kisses down her neck and Spencer knew they weren't going to have to worry about finding something to do tonight. She giggled at the light brushing of his lips against her sensitive skin and sought out his mouth with her own again.

The fire from earlier burned under their skin again, and she let her knees dig into the couch on either side of his hips, straddling him now as she sat up further to pull him closer.

Toby's hands skimmed up her back and back down, settling down to stroke her lean thighs. She gasped a little into the kiss when his thumbs drew circles low on her inner thighs. She had momentarily forgotten how powerful Toby's touch was over her body's reactions, but he didn't let her forget for long.

He sat up to reach her better, pressing on her lower back and moaning as her hips moved in time with his. It felt so good. He could feel his body breaking out into a fever as their lips moved faster over each other's.

Spencer was pushing his over-shirt off his shoulders and blindly helped him discard it down his arms. In her haste, her fingers brushed across the skin on his right forearm. He unexpectedly winced.

Pulling back from their passionate make-out session, Spencer reached for his wrist to hold up his arm for better view. At the sight, her eyes welled up with tears.

There were deep, crescent-moon-shaped marks with surrounding bruises along the middle of his inner forearm. It was clear that someone had had an incredibly hard grip on him, their fingernails digging deep into the skin. It was definitely a recent wound too.

"Toby…" she said slowly, trying to control the shaking in her voice.

He wouldn't meet her eyes. "It's nothing…"

"Jenna did this?" she asked, running her fingers over it. Her tears started falling at the way he accidentally flinched a second time at her gentle touch, clearly in pain.

His lack of response reassured her she was right.

"What… why…?" she asked in utter confusion as Toby pushed her gently off of him and pulled his extra shirt back on to cover the marks.

He had completely forgotten about that. He cursed himself for letting his attraction to Spencer distract him. He hadn't wanted her to ever see the weakness he always tried so desperately to hide from everyone else. He was ashamed of the life he lived, or used to live.

He didn't answer; instead, he bowed his head, refusing to meet her eyes.

"She can't get away with this… She's… how can she do this to you? If I'm ever alone with her, I swear I'll kill that evil bit-"

Toby jumped in, grasping her hands in his. "Don't say that. I'd never want you to do that. And Jenna isn't evil… she's just… misguided."

She looked up at him with her tear-stained face. "She's hurting you, and you're defending her?"

Toby brushed her tears away with his thumbs, kissing her forehead. "Spence, it's over between me and Jenna. I told her that and she… wasn't very pleased…"

"So, naturally, ripping flesh from your arm was the right reaction to that?" Spencer countered irritably.

Toby was patient. He understood she was just upset. But he had been dealing with this for much longer. This was nothing compared to the other things Jenna had done. But he wasn't about to tell her that.

"C'mere." Toby told her, pulling Spencer into a close hug and squeezing her affectionately. "You've got to think of it like… this is the last time she will ever do something like this. Ever. I'm done with her. For good. That's what matters."

Spencer nuzzled into his shoulder, playing with the collar of his shirt. "You're so strong, and you have such a kind heart. I hate that she has hurt you so much."

He pressed his lips to her hair. "I know you do. But it's over. She won't get in the way of us. I set her straight. What matters is that we're together right now and no one is going to get in the way of that."

Toby tried not to think of the threat Alison had made earlier. Who knew if breaking him up with Spencer was part of her plan? No doubt it would be since that was the best way to hurt him, losing her from his life.

Spencer looped her arms around his neck, finally smiling up at him. "Speaking of, I think today would be our first official couple holiday… seeing as its the 4th of July. Unfortunately, I already have plans…" she admitted. "Looks like I'll be winning Worst Girlfriend Award before we even leave the gate…"

Toby laughed as he pulled her closer so her legs were across his lap. "You're fine. I spent the most of the day cleaning out my garage. Not exactly romantic. But even so, Rosewood doesn't usually do fireworks or anything special anyways."

"Well, I'll be having a sleepover with all the girls at Emily's house. Ali's bringing over a bunch of clothes for us to all try on and stuff. Doesn't exactly scream romance either." she teased, but was grateful that he wasn't upset with her in any way. "I'll miss you tonight."

Toby smiled lovingly at her. "I'll miss you too." He head-butted her forehead gently. "Are you getting hungry? Ready to get some dinner?"

Spencer nodded happily and took his hand, too excited to be able to spend time with him and then her best friends later on. She was looking forward to an exciting night.

But she had no idea that everything was about to change.

* * *

Hours later, Spencer was having a blast with her best friends. Emily's mom was out at a neighbor's barbeque so they had the house to themselves for a while. Alison's mom had gotten "leftovers" from Rosewood's fashion show wardrobe and Ali had brought them over so they could each try on some.

Each of the girls were tossing the different articles around back and forth. There were so many cute pieces that they were playfully fighting over. Ali naturally was stealing the best ones and saving them for herself, but what else was new.

Aria tried on a rather bold skirt, but her style was always a little on the exotic side. She had pink streaks in her hair after all.

"Han, you look so pretty in that. Sean won't be able to keep his eyes off you." Ali teased her friend gently.

Hanna blushed at the flattering halter top she was wearing that hid her belly fat nicely and brought out the blue in her eyes.

Not one for a lot of attention, she slipped it off and reached for her much more comfortable sweatshirt.

"Pick something out for me, Aria." Alison instructed playfully, and she and Aria got lost in giggles as they sorted through the clothes.

Spencer spotted her other brunette friend eying a more daring yellow tanktop than she normally would go for. It wasn't very low cut and was a longer hem, but Emily was always more conservative.

"Em. Try it on." she told her.

Emily bit her lip, embarrassed to be caught.

Spencer knew Emily's parents were a little strict on how she dressed. Anyone with eyes knew that Emily was a very beautiful girl with a heart to match. She was very trusting by nature, which made them worry about her being taken advantage of.

Spencer picked the shirt up and placed it in her friend's hands. She tucked some of her hair behind her ear, smiling sweetly at her. "It's just us. You don't have to parade in it around school or at Noel Kahn's next party. Just try it on. For you. It'll look incredible with your skin tone."

Emily finally caved and peeled off her t-shirt, pulling the yellow beach tank top on and gazing at her reflection in the mirror.

Spencer had to smile a little amusedly at the surprised look on Emily's face. It saddened her that her friend didn't see how truly beautiful she was, but she sort of loved the modesty in her because of it too.

"Told you so." Spencer quipped, nudging Emily with her hip.

"Spence, do you think I can pull this off?" Aria asked.

Spencer left Emily with a light side-hug squeeze before going over to her tiny friend. Aria was holding up a black strapless shirt that had white zebra-like stripes on one side of the torso.

The taller of the two pulled on the hem to stretch out the material for a better view. "Hmm I don't know, Aria. You and animal print…" she said pretend-inquisitively, knowing that Aria already had several pieces in her closet that had spots and textures from various members of the animal kingdom.

Aria swiped at her playfully. "I MEANT the _type_ of shirt! Or would you rather wear it?" she teased, trying to force it into Spencer's hands.

Spencer pushed it back, giggling. "Yeah, with my chest of a twelve-year-old boy, I won't even be able to hold it up for five minutes, let alone a whole party. I think Noel would rather see you in it."

"Spencer!" she squealed back, always embarrassed when impressing her crush was brought up. Looking around the room to see if anyone else had heard, although they all knew regardless, Aria spotted the queen bee pulling a floral pink flowy shirt over her blue tank top. "That's really hot, Ali!"

Ali smiled, striking a pose and catching Emily's admiring eye.

The sweet moment was cut short when she suddenly spotted something in the mirror reflection, whipping around and growing angry.

"I can see you!" she screeched, furiously breaking through Aria and Spencer to reach the window. Scanning the dark outdoors for a moment, she turned back around to face them. "Oh my god, I can't believe it!"

"What did you see?" Emily asked worriedly.

"Ugh, I am so creeped out! He was in that tree, spying on us!"

"Who was it?" Spencer demanded.

"It was that perv, Toby Cavanaugh!" Alison said, glaring at Spencer like it was her fault.

But Spencer wasn't the only one who didn't look convinced.

"He's not like that, Ali." Hanna said.

"How would you know?" Ali snapped.

The heavier girl closed her mouth, looking at the carpet.

"Are you sure?" Aria cut in, sensing Spencer flaring up next to her and knew they were about to have a brawl on their hands.

"Of course I'm sure, he was _right _there!" Alison looked to the others girls, her face disgusted. "I bet he saw us all naked."

"Alison, he wouldn't do that." Spencer said as calmly as she should considering she wanted to rip out the blonde's hair for even suggesting that about her kind-hearted boyfriend.

Ali turned to Spencer finally and let a sweeter smile grace her heart-shaped face. "Spence, honey, face it. Look at you. You've got those hot Hastings legs." she complimented, giggling. "Do you really blame him for wanting to see more of you? I mean, you told him you were coming here tonight, right? And what we were going to be doing?"

Spencer bit her lip. Alison had a point. She had told Toby what they were doing tonight… but Toby wasn't a pervert. He was always so respectful and gentle…

"I mean, Spence, have you shown him any _real_ skin yet?" Alison continued mischievously.

Spencer blushed. She didn't want to admit that she was inexperienced. But Alison wasn't asking because she was looking for an answer; she already knew she had won.

"Spencer's a little tease…" the queen bee taunted. "But Toby's a boy. And boys get impatient." She stepped closer, with almost an air of threat, to Spencer. "Boys want what they can't have. The longer they have to wait, the _needier_ they get."

Before Spencer could cut in and chew her out for speaking ill about her boyfriend, Ali's face broke into an evil smile.

"I've got an idea on how we can scare him from doing it again."

Spencer knew she wasn't going to like what she was about to suggest.

"Toby didn't do anything."

"I know what I saw." Alison barked and Spencer and the others immediately went silent.

"Shouldn't we just, like, tell someone?" Aria suggested, but shut up when Spencer shot her a dirty look.

Spencer knew there was no way Toby had done what Ali was suggesting. He had said only last week that he wouldn't rush her into anything…

"Well, we don't want to get Spencer's boyfriend in trouble." Alison explained, as if she was being charitable. "But he should know that he can't get away with doing that. Spencer will show him what she wants _when_ she wants. I mean, clearly that's why he was spying—to get a preview of what's to come."

The other three still looked really uneasy. And Spencer hated herself for wondering if maybe Ali was right. Maybe after what Toby had been through he wanted to see if he could handle looking at another girl and not feeling disgusted. Because it was clear that seeing Jenna unclothed didn't turn him on. He _had_ said he couldn't wait to see more of her… but he had been kidding… he wouldn't stoop to this, right?

Although, they had sort of gotten carried away earlier in the night and had to separate. They had been getting too intense and Spencer didn't want to scare him. But, well, she clearly left him high and dry of sorts…

"Come on, guys. This is for Spencer. You do want Toby to treat her right, don't you?"

Aria, Hanna and Emily looked at Spencer warily. Obviously, they were coming around to Ali's idea now if it meant protecting Spencer from getting hurt.

"What are we going to do?" Hanna asked.

Alison's victorious smile grew.

* * *

"Will you guys wipe those guilty looks off of your faces? It's just a stink bomb. We're not nuking the place!" Ali snapped as the four trailed slowly behind her up the Cavanaugh's driveway.

"I don't get why you won't just let me talk to him first." Spencer argued.

"Spencer, I know what I saw. He's not even going to be in there. You can talk to him tomorrow." she told her authoritatively.

Spencer finally quieted and slouched like a scolded puppy.

Alison turned to the others. "Girls, Toby Cavanaugh needs to be taught a lesson. We just need to scare the_ freak_ out of him. Now that he's with a Hastings, he's going to have to leave his old life behind."

The three looked at Spencer. Alison sure knew how to play on their consciences. There wasn't anything they wouldn't do to help a friend.

"How do your parents feel about you dating him, Spencer?"

Spencer was right where Ali wanted her and she knew it. "They um… they don't know yet."

"So, what's the holdup, guys? We're just making sure he's more Hastings-approved." Alison teased.

Although she didn't want to admit it, Ali had a point. Spencer couldn't say she wasn't worried about her parents' reaction to her dating Toby. He was so introvert and kept to himself that he already had things working against him. If they were to find out he was spying on girls, because Spencer was sure Ali would be the first to inform them, then Spencer would be shipped off to an all-girls boarding school before you could say break-up.

"Let's do it! Give me the lighter." Alison demanded.

Spencer knew it was no coincidence that she had given it to her to hold on to. She didn't want to, but Ali was glaring her down and the other three had gone to Ali's side, clearly thinking it was just a harmless prank. But Spencer had a really bad feeling about this. Would Toby forgive her for not hearing his side of the story first?

"Give me the lighter." she repeated menacingly.

Spencer sighed and fished it out of her pocket, handing it to her.

It was just a stink bomb. The worst that would happen is he'd have to air out the garage tomorrow. Not a big deal. And at least Ali would finally shut up about it.

Alison lit the end of the wick, opening the door a sliver and scanning the garage to check if anyone was in there.

Or at least, that's what it looked like she was doing.

"Coast is clear." she murmured to the other four with a mischievous grin and lobbed the burning object into the garage.

She gestured for the other girls to follow her as they started running away when an explosion behind them happened.

They all screamed in surprise as the entire garage erupted into flames.

"Ali, what did you DO?!" Spencer shouted in horror.

Alison looked just as freaked out as the rest of them, clearly not expecting this kind of backfiring.

"We have to get out of here! Come on, let's go!" Emily panicked.

But something distracted them. Amongst the crackling of flames and breaking of glass, they heard someone screaming bloody murder.

Someone was inside.

* * *

The real question... is who is it? ;)


	6. Chapter 6

IMPORTANT NOTE: I did not up the rating of this story to M. I didn't go as dark as I had planned to with the Jenna/Toby flashback, but it is harder to stomach than anything else I have in this story at the moment. Keep that in mind.

I know a few of you are really upset with Spencer right now. I think that's understandable. But what you have to remember is what I noted last chapter-that the girls are younger and give in to peer pressure easier. With Alison as their friend for so long, they're not really used to thinking for themselves honestly. I know this, because I've been through it. But.. well you'll see. Also, remember that Spencer and the other girls did NOT agree to setting the place on fire OR doing ANYTHING with anybody inside. They agreed to a harmless prank involving a stink bomb. Causing Toby's garage to smell for a couple hours vs taking down Alison DiLaurentis? Which would you really choose, at that age, at that time, and when you are the only one fighting it? Finally: Spencer and Toby have only been together a week. They are precious and beautiful, but they really don't know each other THAT well. This is only the beginning of their story.

**I do not own Pretty Little Liars.**

* * *

"What are you doing just standing there?! Someone call 911!" Spencer shouted, tossing her phone at Hanna and Emily and moving forwards to the garage without thinking.

"No, Spencer! You can't go in there; you'll burn alive!" Aria shouted, grabbing her arm and dragging her back.

"We have to get out of here! NOW!" Ali yelled over all of them, running ahead.

She had a point. They were too close to the fire, and who knows how long it would take to spread.

Spencer grabbed the phone from Hanna's trembling hands and put it to her ear as they got out of the way. "There is a garage on fire at 47 Oakwood! We need the fire department, immediately, and an ambulance! I think someone is inside… I-there was a scream… It just suddenly was in flames… my-my name? It's-"

But Alison took the phone from her hands and snapped it shut.

"Don't put yourself as number one on the suspects list, Spencer." she told her seriously.

Spencer was confused until she understood the look on Alison's face. She had no intention of explaining that the fire was her fault. Their fault. She was going to play innocent, the way she always does.

"Alison-"

"No. We were never here." Alison claimed stubbornly, not looking as though she would be backing down any time soon.

They were across the street when the emergency vehicles slammed to a stop in front of the Cavanaughs.

Spencer didn't even realize she was shaking until Aria had buried herself into her arms, hugging her tightly.

"What if… what if it was Toby…" she whispered, feeling the tears start falling.

She knew that scream would haunt her forever. It was so filled with anguish and fear that she couldn't even figure out if it was male or female.

The firefighters set to work on extinguishing the flames as the paramedics prepared for the rescue. Before any of the firefighters can move inside, a figure emerged from the billowing smoke.

"Toby!" Spencer's strangled cry came, but there's no way he could have heard it from so far away and amongst so much chaos.

Toby was carrying a figure in his arms bridal style. Covered in patches of smoke stain and coughing, he passed the girl over to the paramedics.

"Oh my god, what happened to Jenna?" Emily asked in horror as they all watched her with the medical professionals.

Her hands were over her eyes, her mouth a solid unchanging rectangle as she cried so hard she clearly wasn't making noise. She wasn't just upset about the fire; there was definitely something very, very wrong.

"This is really bad." Aria moaned, hiding herself in Spencer.

Spencer was pretty sure if she wasn't holding Aria right now, both of them would be on the ground.

"I'll take care of it." Ali told them. "Wait here."

They watched as the blonde headed across the street and disappeared behind the big fire truck.

"Shh, Han, it's going to be okay." Emily reassured her, seeing her tears and snuggling into a close hug.

But even she didn't sound sure of what she was saying.

* * *

Toby was grateful that the police only asked a few questions before letting him go and that the paramedics didn't insist he go to the hospital too. Jenna was already gone and he was terrified to hear the verdict of what the state of her eyes was.

He was fairly certain that it wouldn't be anything good.

He was still trying to piece together everything that had happened…

_It was dark out and Toby was still moving things around the garage, clearing out shelves and filing cabinets of old stuff that hadn't been touched in years._

_Jenna had slinked in like an unwanted black cat, clearly on the prowl. Toby knew exactly what was on her mind as soon as he caught a glimpse of her face._

"_Leave." he said sternly._

_His demand only made her smile._

"_But Toby… you've been working so hard today. Don't you think you deserve a reward?" she asked, her voice filled to the brim with fake innocence as her expression told the real story._

_He clenched his jaw. "No."_

_Jenna slipped in between him and the cleared-off workbench. She hopped up so she was directly in front of him and looped her legs around him so their pelvises were crushed together and he couldn't move._

"_Jenna-"_

_But she had already let one hand undo his jeans and grasp him firmly, moving her hand up and down and switching levels of pressure._

"_Jenna!" he scolded, trying to push her away but she locked her legs tighter around him, batting his hands away with her free hand._

"_Spencer left you high and dry earlier, didn't she? You're responding faster than normal…" she claimed wickedly, feeling him harden as her hand continued stroking him._

_He groaned, still trying to pull away. Unfortunately, male anatomy dictated that any sort of physical contact in the correct motion allowed for arousal so his body betrayed him and responded to her touch._

_She had a point too. Because of his afternoon with Spencer, where they were constantly hot and cold, his body was much more ready to be heated up than it normally would be._

"_Stop. Please." he begged brokenly, hating his body's weakness. The shame he felt over the pleasure radiating from her touch made him so sick to his stomach he could barely stand it. He had told Spencer earlier that he was done with Jenna. He thought she had finally listened. How could he have been so stupid?_

_His self-loathing only increased tenfold as he felt himself nearing the edge._

"_Jenna. Stop. Enough!"_

"_I want to feel you come undone again." she whispered cruelly against his ear, increasing her hand's pace._

"_No." he whined back, but her palm moved more erratically, her breath increasing against his ear. She always got turned on by his begging._

_He tried to jerk out of her touch, but she was always well prepared for that. He felt his lungs changing their air input and output and knew he was about to fall._

"_I… don't…. no. Please…" he cried, but it was too late. His body lurched forward as his high poured out of him, causing him to collapse into her. Falling backwards wasn't an option since her legs were still so tight around him._

"_There, there, baby. I've got you." she murmured, showering his neck and face wherever she could reach with appreciative kisses._

_A cold sweat coated his body at the feel of her lips on his skin. He quickly did up his pants, feeling the tears fall now at his defeat. It wasn't fair. He didn't want this; he didn't want any of this. He just wanted Spencer._

"_Jenna, I told you. You and I are done. I don't want you." Toby told her, but the force in his voice was lost with the shaking. He wiped impatiently at his face._

"_That's not what your body just told me." she teased, grinning evilly, sucking on one of her wet fingers._

_He cringed at the sight._

"_I'm going in the house."_

"_Not before you return the favor." Jenna told him sharply, jumping off the workbench and grabbing his arm._

"_Jenna, I TOLD you, I will never touch you like that again-"_

"_Oh yes you will. Unless you want more of those." she hissed, gesturing to his covered-up right arm. They both knew exactly what she was referring to._

_He glared, about to open his mouth, when he heard the creak of a door opening._

"_Shh, did you hear that?"_

_Jenna rolled her eyes, figuring he was trying to change the subject, but she too picked up on the sound of something crackling._

"_Jenna, we should get out of here." Toby said nervously, the hair on the back of his neck standing up. He headed towards the door closest to the house. "Come on!"_

_He exited out of the door, looking back to see her peering out of the window._

"_Alison and her idiot friends… How you ever fell for one of her kind I'll never understand-"_

_But there was a sudden bang and Toby watched in horror as Jenna recoiled back, screaming, from the shattered glass window as the garage erupted in flames around her._

"_Jenna!" he shouted, covering his mouth with his elbow as he dove back inside the garage._

_Things crashed all around them as the structure burned from the ground up. He knew he had to reach her though; he wouldn't just leave her in there to die. He kicked at things to clear the path, ducking as burning wiring swung from the ceiling._

_She was still screaming when he reached her, and he nearly puked when he saw the blood trickling between the fingers covering her eyes._

_Fighting back through carefully to save them from burns, Toby finally broke into the fresh air and ran as fast as he could with a girl in his arms down the driveway._

_He was grateful to see the firefighters and ambulance arrive shortly after. He gladly passed over his step-sister to them, trying to hold himself together and wrap his head around what in the hell just happened._

* * *

Even now, he still was lost. Was Alison really that insane that she would set a fire to pay them back for some mean comments?

Speak of the devil, the blonde was approaching him and clearly had a mission in mind.

He would have prepared himself for it, but he had no idea what to expect.

"Setting fire to your own garage? Pretty stupid move, Toby."

Nope. No mental preparation could have prepared him for that.

"You are actually _insane_. I can't believe just because Jenna called you a name, and I rejected your advances because I'm dating your best friend, you would do something this… this… cruel! Alison, you could have killed us both in there, or was that your intention?" he demanded.

She stepped closer to him. "You think this was my idea? Oh honey, you really don't know your girlfriend at all, do you?"

Toby felt a chill pass over him, despite the heat of the fire still feeling like it was all around him.

"I… you're lying. Spencer would never do something like that."

"Well, clearly she didn't think you were in there. But she was talking about what Jenna does to you and all the girls agreed that you didn't deserve that. Spencer wanted to make Jenna pay for what she has done to you. It was sort of noble, in a twisted way."

Toby remembered their conversation earlier; Spencer was rather distraught over the evidence of the pain Jenna had caused and had said some pretty serious things. And he only had really known her a little over a week, but still. She wouldn't do this, right?

"I… I don't believe you." he told her stubbornly. "I know it was you."

Ali smirked. "Maybe it was. But do you think I didn't see what was going in there?"

He shifted his weight uncomfortably, remembering what her visit had interrupted. "It's not what it looked like."

"Maybe not to you."

"What were you doing here anyway? What did I ever do to you?" he asked exasperatedly, wondering why she was being so horrible.

"You've been peeping in my window for years." she hissed at him like a cat that had just been doused in water.

"Never! I've never looked in your window." he told her, not expecting that one.

"Well I've looked in yours. And we're not taking the blame for this."

"Oh yes you are." Toby said, feeling a small urge to laugh at how ridiculous this girl was.

"No. Not unless you want the whole world knowing how _close_ you are with your step-sister. You talk, and I'll make sure everyone knows you've been doing it with her!"

Her finger was inches away from hitting him in the chest, her face screwed up in fury.

"Go ahead and tell the world, Alison. I don't care. Spencer already knows."

Toby felt that same uneasiness wash over him again at the look in her eyes. She had just figured out a victory plan. Something had clicked into place in that messed up head of hers.

"Okay. You want to blame us for this? That's fine. But I hope you enjoyed earlier with Spencer, because she's going to be the one who gets nailed for this, not me."

"What are you talking about?" he asked. "I know full well you were the one to throw that firecracker."

She smiled. "It's Spencer's lighter. I got her to hold on to it so her fingerprints are all over it. I also told Jason what we were planning, from _Spencer's_ idea, so I don't know how you plan on thinking your word will hold up."

"It's the truth!" Toby shouted, feeling like the floor was falling out from beneath him with every word she uttered.

"Trust me, Toby. The truth isn't all it's cracked up to be. You're much better off with a really good lie." she told him mischievously. "You know what will happen. Spencer has worked so hard for all that she has. But I'm sure she's mentioned how little her parents care about her. They're lawyers and they won't even bother fighting for her. They wouldn't want the Hastings name to be tainted, so they'd let her rot in jail before they would try to help her."

Spencer had mentioned on a few different occasions how absent her parents were and how important they considered the family's reputation to be. He had watched her look like her world had fallen in because she had done less than perfect on an essay.

"Spencer wanted to protect you, Toby. She knew that you couldn't get away from Jenna on your own. She took it too far, but she did it for you."

Toby bit his lip. Her entire future would come crashing down if she took the fall for it. He wasn't sure what to believe. His conversation earlier with Spencer was still heavy on his mind. She really hated Jenna for what she had done. And if someone had been doing that to her, he wasn't sure if he wouldn't have done the same.

His future wasn't as bright as hers would be. If he took the fall, he could come back from it. Spencer couldn't. She wasn't strong enough to survive the repercussions. He wouldn't let her go through that when she was already so delicate.

He was still a minor, so it wouldn't be as bad as if he had turned eighteen.

"I get that it didn't go as she originally planned, but this could be a way to get away from Jenna too, Toby." Alison said, and Toby looked up in surprise. It almost sounded as if she understood how desperate he was for that.

He swallowed. He wished he could talk to Spencer first. Explain exactly why he was doing this. But the police were approaching him again, clearly ready for the next round of questions.

It didn't matter if Spencer had done what Alison said. He knew that Alison would find a way to frame her either way.

"Tell her I love her." he told the blonde, before approaching the men in uniform and leaving his old life of honesty behind.

* * *

Alison smiled as Toby walked away, but then spotted Spencer watching warily and stormed over to her furiously.

"I told you to wait over there!" she scolded as she led her out of sight.

Spencer was still desperately trying to get a glimpse at Toby, but he was busy talking to the police.

"What did you hear?" Alison demanded.

"N-nothing." she told her honestly.

She had been coming to see what was taking Alison so long, and if she could talk to Toby, but Toby was walking away from the blonde by the time she had found them.

"Wait, what's going on?" Spencer asked, feeling the tears fall as she watched the police direct Toby inside the backseat of the vehicle. "What are they doing with Toby?!"

Alison yanked her to stand beside a bush, getting her out of the way and so that the important people couldn't hear her since she no doubt would make a scene over it.

"Spencer… I talked to Toby. I wanted to find out what he had seen and what happened to Jenna. But he immediately went off at me… about you."

Spencer blanched. Toby was pissed at her? Well, he had every right to be. She knew she should've listened to his side of the story first…

Alison squeezed her hands, looking at her sympathetically. "I'm sorry, Spencer. He's… he's disgusted that you would go along with this plan. Clearly, he wouldn't listen to me claim it was an accident… he thinks you did it to punish Jenna for the way she's been treating him… He said he would rather get blamed for it and taken away from here than ever see you again… He wants to get as far away as possible and this was the easiest answer."

Spencer's tears were falling faster. No. It couldn't be true. Toby never would think she was that cruel, would he?

"He… he said all of that?"

She nodded sadly. "He said that he couldn't even give you a chance to explain yourself. He couldn't believe you were so evil that you would try to hurt another person like that."

Alison continued on, but she needn't have bothered. Spencer only heard one word out of that sentence.

_Evil._ Toby thought she was _evil_. He didn't believe the girl that constantly molested him was evil, but he thought she was. There was no going back from that. He hated her. He didn't hate Jenna, but he hated her.

And why wouldn't he? What they had done was awful. She was pretty sure Jenna was going to be visually impaired from now on. There was no reversing that either.

"Spence, it's over. I'm sorry. But let's keep this between us, okay? I'm sure you don't want the other girls knowing, right?"

Spencer nodded numbly, wiping her face quickly of the moisture.

Alison squeezed her hand reassuringly and headed back towards where the other three were waiting.

Spencer trailed behind slowly, trying to understand how she was supposed to wrap her head around all of this.

"What is going on?" Aria asked.

Emily overlapped her. "What happened to Jenna?"

Alison pushed her hair off her face, looking stressed, gently leading the girls away from the street. "It's done, we were never here. Let's go."

"But…" Hanna began slowly.

"But what?" Alison demanded.

"What if we said it was an accident, maybe-"

"No! We're not telling anybody anything…"

Spencer knew it would crack the easy out of Toby taking the blame for it and that was the last thing Ali wanted.

The leader's face morphed into that of a severely pissed off dragon. "Damn it, Hanna. Don't make me sorry I ever included you in the first place. You know, I have gone _out_ of my way to bring your big wannabe butt into this group. You better keep your mouth _shut_. Unless you want to go back to spending your weekends alone with Dance Dance Revolution and a jumbo bag of chips."

Aria cut her off, seeing Hanna's tears building. "Ali! Stop it. Just leave her alone."

Alison seemed to come out of her fury and realized what she had been saying. "I'm sorry, Hanna. I didn't mean that." she told her quietly. Hanna merely sniffled. "I just… I'm freaked out guys. This is bad. _Really_ bad. I never would've done it if I thought someone was in there. I just… I don't know what's going to happen. To us. Can we just go? Come on."

They all headed back towards Emily's house, but Spencer doubled back to see Toby one last time. The sirens started going off and she watched the car peel away from the curb with him in the back.

When he saw her, his eyes were bluer than she had ever seen them and there was an unmistakable longing that she couldn't quite decipher what it meant. There was pain and loneliness in his eyes already.

He raised his hand to touch the glass, almost reaching out to her, and she felt her tears fall again.

She didn't have long to contemplate what that meant, since the car drove all the way past and headed down the road.

* * *

The sleepover was drained of the usual laughter and fun when they returned to Emily's bedroom, so the five basically cleaned up the mess of clothes and went to sleep.

It took hours in the dark before most of them nodded off. It was pretty late when they had headed over to the Cavanaughs in the first place, but that felt like another lifetime ago now.

Emily slept in her bed while the rest were on the air-mattresses on the floor. Normally Alison convinced Emily to share her single bed with her, but tonight Ali hadn't wanted to be playful or fun. She had dragged her sleeping bag to the corner, put her back to them and went to sleep.

No one was feeling very chatty, so she had fit right in, which only made the difference in the night stand out even more strongly.

"Spence?" Emily whispered into the room, hearing the muffled cries from the sleeping bag two girls over.

Spencer rolled over and she saw that her face was soaked, her eyes red from crying, and Emily's heart broke more than it already had.

Emily had made the mistake earlier in the night asking Alison about Toby, but Alison had cut her off sharply, harsher than she had ever been with her before. It had sent the message to the rest of the girls that they shouldn't mention his name any time soon… or ever again.

"Come here." Emily told her, moving over and patting the spot next to her on the bed.

Spencer carefully maneuvered around the other girls, making sure not to step on anyone's fingers.

As soon as Emily's arms wrapped around her, Spencer broke out into sobs, burying them into her shoulder so she wouldn't wake the others.

Emily shushed her, petting down her hair, trying to control the poor girl's shaking. She hugged her tightly, knowing she was crying over more than just the accident. She knew she was mourning the loss of the blue-eyed boy across the street.

Emily didn't know what had happened exactly, but it was clear that Spencer and Toby's relationship was over. He had taken the fall for them and, no matter what the reason, he was gone.

It had only been a short relationship, but she wasn't blind. She saw the way the pair of them looked at each other. They had had something special.

But that which was special was now broken. Just like the girl Emily rocked to sleep in her arms that night.

* * *

A/N To the person who suggested I make Toby be the one who goes blind, I absolutely love your originality, but I'm afraid that Toby is my BABY and I cannot do that to him. I will admit I was tempted though. It would certainly make for an interesting twist. But Spoby will have enough bumps in their road without that to add to the mix, and it would completely alter the course of the story I had originally envisioned. But hey, maybe someday ;)


	7. Chapter 7

First off, apologies for the late chapter. It's SUPER long so you can't hate me too much ;) It was just a lot to figure out and a lot of tiny threads I had to connect to make everything make sense. Secondly, you guys are amazing. Your responses literally blow me away every time. Thank you to each and every one of you. The feedback has been incredible and I am so appreciative.

NOW. I received a complaint last chapter that my ANs are too long, annoying and retract from the reading. I'm not saying this is false. I've cut down the ANs in the last couple of chapters since their original posting to accommodate the others that feel the same way. So, although a few of you on twitter have expressed your distaste for me doing so, I will be cutting out my ANs from now on. My writing should be clear enough that I don't need to tell you things beforehand.

However, that being said, there WILL be times where I need to address certain things. Such as, when a chapter borderlines on M rating, because I will be delving further into Jenna and Toby's relationship in the future and not all of those will be pleasant for younger eyes. Or when I need to give someone/something credit for inspiration or name choices.

Now THAT being said, you are under no obligation, and _never_ have been under any obligation, to read my ANs. But that means you read at your own risk.

Anyways, I try to please all of my readers, so from now on, I'll try not to be as chatty ;) I just like when you guys see me as a person, not a story-making factory :)

**I do not own Pretty Little Liars.**

* * *

If you were to ask Spencer Hastings how she liked to be woken up in the morning, having a pillow thrown at her and an exasperated sigh from her sister wouldn't be one of them.

"Spencer, get up!" Melissa called to her irritably.

Her younger sister groaned, pushing the covers off of her head.

Melissa strolled over to the curtains and opened them wide, letting the sunlight stream in—directly into Spencer's face.

"Ow! Do you mind!?" Spencer cried, crossing her arms in front of her face as if it would help. It didn't really; it just made her look like a vampire.

Melissa came over and sat on the edge of her bed, watching her carefully as the younger Hastings woke herself up by adjusting her hair and rubbing her eyes.

She reached out to fix a piece of her sister's hair. "Spence, is everything okay? You've been different all summer. You never used to sleep in."

Spencer stretched her arms above her head to break up the kinks in her shoulders. "It's nothing, Melissa. It's been a busy summer. I just needed to catch up on some sleep before school starts up again in a few days. Plus Ali comes home today, so me and the girls are having a sleepover. I'm obviously not going to get any sleep tonight." she added amusedly.

"Just catching up on sleep, huh? Then why are your eyes puffy?" Melissa asked knowingly, not taking the bait for the subject change.

Spencer hated that Hastings were known for their stubbornness. It made for really irritating arguments.

It had been just under two months since The Jenna Thing had happened. Jenna had been carted off to a rehabilitation center to learn how to live with being blind and Toby had been sent to reform school for a year.

Blinding a girl, however horrible as she had been, had Spencer waking up in cold sweats often. But Toby being absent from her life and all that had happened there was what led her to crying herself to sleep most nights. Last night had been no exception.

For the most part, she had kept it to herself quite well. She hadn't cried in front of her friends since the night of, and that had only been Emily. On the rare occasion that Toby's name got brought up, Spencer kept on a brave face. She was a quick study, and lying was her new lesson plan. So far she was passing with flying colors.

She wasn't sure if all of her friends believed her though. She caught Emily and Aria eying her worriedly when they thought she wasn't looking. As soon as she'd turn back to them, they'd look away and act like they hadn't been staring.

She appreciated their concern of course, but the truth was, it didn't matter if she had public or private breakdowns about it. Whatever thing she and Toby had had was over. Forever.

Just thinking that made her want to cry again. No other boy had ever made her feel the things Toby made her feel. She missed the feel of his hand in hers, the rumble beneath her when he laughed when she was lying on his chest or hugging him, the gentleness of his lips, the warmth in his smile. She missed feeling the butterflies flood her stomach every time he gazed at her. But those would only be memories to her from now on, not things to look forward to. Toby wanted nothing to do with her; Alison had made that clear.

Naturally, Spencer hadn't confided in her family about dating the Cavanaugh boy. Word spread around Rosewood fast about the delinquent step-brother who set his own garage on fire and blinded his step-sister. It was the juiciest piece of gossip the small town had ever had since the drunk driver who had hit and killed a little boy four years previous. Her parents had been among the gossipers, as always, hearing snippets about the reform school he was being sent to at the country club and the high class dinner parties they were always going to.

Spencer swore the wealthy had nothing better to do than spend their time judging others for their mistakes while they did worse. It was easier than looking in the mirror, she supposed.

True to Alison's promise, they were off the hook for the horrific incident at the beginning of the summer. They were never questioned when the police received such a believable confession from Toby.

Now that a couple months had passed and the shock had worn off, Spencer had been thinking about she and Toby more and more. That night, when Toby was in the police car, he had looked at her with mirroring pain to hers. She felt like she was missing a rather big piece of the puzzle. The sadness in his eyes didn't look like a man who wanted nothing to do with her; it looked like a man who couldn't imagine being separated from her. The Toby she knew and had fallen for was still in there.

If she didn't feel in her heart that something wasn't quite right, Spencer would've blindly believed the words that came out of her friend's mouth. But she was not a stranger to being burned by Alison DiLaurentis. Alison may be great at telling lies, but she also liked to punish people with the truth. Spencer assumed her reason for causing her pain was because of just that. But now she wasn't so sure. The real question was: why would Alison lie to her? What would make her want Spencer and Toby to be over?

Tonight, Spencer would find out exactly what Alison said to him. Because it didn't take a Hastings to figure out that she didn't have the whole story.

* * *

"All right, you're out of here." the guard said gruffly, beeping Toby out of the hall and back into the freedom of the world.

It was only a temporary recess. He had to be back early the next morning. But he was going to enjoy every single minute being away from that 'school'.

Things hadn't been easy. He was lucky to have lasted this long. The first week, in the cafeteria, he had had his lunch tray knocked out of his hands and a fork jabbed deep into his neck because the guy didn't like the way he looked.

Toby had been scared shitless. People like_ that_ weren't roaming around Rosewood High.

He wasn't an idiot though. He learned rather quickly that most of these kids were predators, seeking out the vulnerable prey and striking with venom. They could spot his fear a mile away.

The next time the same guy came to stir up trouble, Toby had grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt and pushed him on the ground.

"Don't touch me." Toby had growled at him, maintaining as much power in his voice as he could muster considering his heart was hammering in his chest, waiting for this guy to jump up and rip him limb by limb.

The entire cafeteria waited in baited breath for the biggest bully of all to say something in return. The guards never got involved in scuffles like these unless the pair was beating the other to a pulp, so they too remained as just observers like scientists in the animal kingdom.

The beefy young man got to his feet and brushed himself off, moving back to his table without another word.

Toby nearly sighed in relief, but that would show weakness. He left his face expressionless as he sat at his usual table in the corner. It seemed to be where all the newbies went.

The guy didn't bother him again, nor did anyone else besides the odd shoulder shove.

The blue-eyed boy gathered that emotions weren't to be shown in a place like this; not around the others committed or the instructors. It was clear no one really cared if you were innocent or not. The point was you were there and you were to do everything the guilty were to do.

Thankfully, Toby found out that he wasn't the only innocent among the masses. He befriended some fellow guys around his age that weren't so bad and was grateful that he had just a little bit of hope that he could make it through this hell.

They were put through grueling manual labor and strength testers. They were screamed at, humiliated, judged and ridiculed constantly. There were no boundaries in a place like this. It was designed to scare the bad out of you so you would never want to do anything remotely ill-mannered in case you ended up here again. It was designed to be a living hell.

The couple friends Toby made would offer him a cold compress or a sip from their drained water bottle when things got particularly rough. He swore he wouldn't be as alive if it wasn't for them. But the real thing that was causing him to push through all of this was the brunette with the coffee-colored eyes.

He didn't have a single picture of her, but he didn't need one. Her face was permanently etched in his mind's eye.

Remembering why he had agreed to this made things easier to push through. They were separated by gender here, but he had seen the girls across the field. Girls fought dirtier than boys.

He knew Spencer was a strong girl who could take care of herself and hold her own, but she would've been massacred at a place like this.

Toby sighed, leaning his head against the window of the bus, as he thought of what she might have been feeling the past two months. How did she react to what he told Alison to tell her? Was she upset with him for taking the fall for her? Was she grateful? Would she shun him now that he was considered a delinquent, whatever the reason? After all, he knew now he'd never be accepted by the Hastings if they were as tough as everyone claimed them to be.

But all he wanted was to see her again. Talk to her. Make sure she was okay.

And that's why he had taken the first bus back to Rosewood. He'd be there by tonight; and, even if he only got a glimpse of her, it would be worth wasting his entire day of freedom travelling to her.

* * *

Toby stopped in Philadelphia, although he really wished he didn't have to. It was already dinner time and he had yet to see Spencer. But he felt he had a certain duty to see his step-sister.

He had only received news from letters his father sent him. They weren't filled with any questions of how he was holding up or any emotion. They were merely memorandums of Jenna's condition. But Toby could feel every drip of hatred and disappointment in him with every stroke and swirl the ink made on the page.

His father hadn't believed he could have done what he had done, and Jenna had certainly been sure to voice her view on the matter, but Toby didn't say a word. He had to be sent to reform school or else Spencer would have. His family would never understand that. They didn't even know he was involved with Spencer. But they would've gone after her if they knew she was responsible for Jenna's permanent disability.

So his father was rather resentful, but Toby wasn't sure what he expected. Ever since his mom died, his father had treated him like he was just a coatrack. Toby knew losing his wife had destroyed him, especially the way she had gone, but sometimes Toby wanted to scream that he had lost her too.

Instead, he stayed quiet. It was why his dad had no idea of what had gone on behind closed doors between him and Jenna either. He couldn't exactly go to the man who had remarried less than a year after his wife had died and tell him that his new wife's daughter was molesting him. Spencer had been the only one Toby had actually admitted the real story to.

After signing in, Toby was told where Jenna's room was. He noticed how the layout of Philadelphia's School for the Blind was very open-spaced with very solid furniture, no spindly legs that canes could get tangled on, and very plain colors. He supposed it didn't matter if the place was boring; the inhabitants couldn't see how depressing everything looked, which only drove the point further home.

Toby approached Jenna's room cautiously. The door was open and the light was streaming in through the window to the right of her bed.

The green-eyed brunette donned in dark sunglasses was running her fingers over the page of the book in her hands.

_Reading_, Toby realized. It had only been two months, but she seemed to be reading braille rather well. Although, he supposed, she didn't really have much else to do.

Over the two months, Toby had thought about Jenna almost as much as he had thought about Spencer. He wondered how she was dealing with losing her sight forever. Having something and then losing it was so much worse than never having it at all.

Jenna had always been artistic. Ironically, she had incredible creative vision. But now… he wasn't sure how she could create the way she used to. Reading music, too, would be difficult even if there was braille. She would have to memorize everything or play by ear. She was a talented flutist, so she would adapt, but he felt guilty that she had to do so. He may not have been responsible for the fire, but there was still a level of accountability he felt over what had happened.

It was not just over the fact that him rejecting Ali's advances in such a way had set the next run of events tumbling. If he had been less cruel about it, maybe Jenna wouldn't have felt the need to taunt the queen bee as well. Besides that, Toby had known something was up and told Jenna they should leave. But if he had been more persistent, maybe she wouldn't have been looking out of the window before the explosion took place that cost her her fifth sense.

"Who's there?" Jenna asked, sounding nervous.

Toby nearly forgot his words. He had never heard Jenna sound scared before.

"It's me, Jenna." he murmured, but then worried that that was unfair. What if she didn't recognize his voice? It's not like she had to in the past.

"Toby?" she asked, and he watched in surprise as tears poured out from underneath her sunglasses. "Come here."

She held out her arms, clearly wanting a hug. Despite their past, there was a part of Toby that would always care for Jenna. After all, their relationship hadn't always been so rough.

Tentatively, Toby entered further into the room and sat on the edge of her bed, only flinching slightly when her arms wrapped around him.

She started crying and he rubbed up and down her side comfortingly. Her hands reached out to touch his face, shoulders, chest, to be sure it was really him.

"I wasn't sure if I'd ever see- hear from you again." she corrected, wiping at her face as he released her.

"I was granted a day of freedom. I have to be back in the morning, but I thought I should come see how you were holding up."

Instead of being flattered that he took his _one_ day of freedom to visit her, Jenna's forehead scrunched up in concern.

"You're going back to Rosewood." she stated rather than asked.

"Yes." he replied, knowing what she was really asking.

"Toby, you can't." Jenna said quickly, sounding terrified.

Although he was surprised at her panic, he wasn't budging on the matter. "Jenna, I have to see her. I have to explain why I did what I did."

"You were foolish to do so." Jenna snapped. "Taking the fall for those bitches was the worst thing you could have done for yourself."

Toby bit his tongue. It was really hard not to snap at her. Hearing her speak like this was a clear reminder of why he had wanted to get away from her in the first place.

"I didn't do it for them. I did it for Spencer."

"Which was an even stupider move. She's not like us, Toby. She's-"

"Don't talk to me about Spencer, Jenna. I know her better than you do."

"Toby-"

"No. That's enough. I came to see you and you're picking a fight?" he asked irritably, standing up to leave.

Jenna grabbed his arm, desperately tugging. "Listen to me. Alison… she visited me. She said if I ever return to Rosewood, she'll bury me."

"Lucky for you, I'm not taking you on a field trip with me." he replied, plucking her hand off of him.

"Toby, what makes you think she's not going to do the same thing to you? She hates us both. She's dangerous, Toby, please. I don't want you to end up like this." she claimed, gesturing to her sunglasses-covered face.

"Alison has already visited me, Jenna. I know the risks. I'm going to see Spencer." he told her seriously.

Even with the sunglasses concealing the most of her face, he could tell she was surprised by that statement.

"Toby-"

"No, Jenna. I told you I was done with you and I meant it. I'm not yours to control anymore. I belong to myself."

"No, Toby. You belong to Alison DiLaurentis now." she growled, trying to get him to understand that.

He thought back to when Alison visited him a few weeks after he had been sent to reform school. She had certainly left him with a ton of questions, but that wasn't one of them.

Toby shook his head, even though she couldn't see it. "If there's anyone else I belong to in this world, it would be Spencer Hastings."

And with that, he left the room and his stunned step-sister, feeling for the first time in years like he really was free.

* * *

Hitting Jenna with that shocking revelation had Toby thinking back to that summer day as he rode the bus into Rosewood.

_"You have a visitor." the guard said through the intercom, beeping open the door of his room._

_Toby sat up quickly from his bed. He felt a thrill of hope that maybe it could be-_

_But in walked one of the last people he would ever want to see._

"_Alison."_

_She smirked at him, shutting the door behind her and coming over to him._

"_Let's skip the pleasantries and just cut to the chase here." she said authoritatively, undoing the drawstring on her canvas bag and dumping the contents onto the free space next to him._

_Toby picked up the series of notes, reading the threatening and taunting messages in confusion._

"_What is this?"_

_Alison's eyes narrowed. "You know exactly what it is. It's time to quit the penpal routine."_

"_What?" Toby didn't know what to say. She thought he was sending these? He was locked up in reform school! He needed special permission to use the bathroom. He was only allowed two minute showers. How on earth could he be mailing her stupid little notes?_

_Alison wasn't buying any of it. "Clearly your time in cell block 4 has done great things for your literary skills. But this needs to stop."_

_Since she didn't seem to be getting it, he said it slower this time. "I didn't write these."_

_Toby watched her face change. It was one of the first and only times he had ever seen Alison show emotion and it was clear that she didn't want to be. But there was fear in her eyes, shining clearly behind the thin veil of tears coating her irises. She was at her limit. That was why she was here. She needed help._

"_Listen. I drove all the way up here and just got a triple X pat-down by security. The least you can do is save me the trouble of being lied to." she spat at him._

_Toby sighed. He could think of another person who may have sent these. "Why are you so convinced it's me? I'm pretty sure Jenna would love to see your head on a stick."_

_The vulnerable side to the blonde evaporated as she relished in the opportunity to make a cruel jab towards her former rival. "Jenna would be pretty happy to see anything, I imagine." she said with a pleased grin. Seeing he wasn't amused, she continued on. "Your step-sis was going through surgery when some of these were sent. Want to know how it turned out? She's still combing her hair with an electric toothbrush."_

_Disgusted that she was enjoying that fact so much, Toby stepped around her, unable to look Lucifer in the face any longer. "You can go now."_

_Truth be told, he had known that Jenna's chances of being able to see again were very slim, but he still had hope that she wouldn't be blind forever. No matter what had happened in the past, he didn't believe she deserved what happened to her._

_Alison suddenly grew furious. "You know, I wasn't the only one outside of that garage! Why aren't you harassing my friends?!"_

_He wished he could have given her a real answer. Besides the fact that he wasn't the one writing those notes, if he was, he knew she'd be his sole target. He knew Alison's friends were merely puppets to her. They should've known better and stood up to her, but he knew the true ring leader was the reason he was in this place. Not Spencer or the other girls._

"_Or is it just because you've fallen for Spencer? I'm her best friend too you know."_

_He whipped around, at his wits end now. "You know what? I wish I knew who was writing those notes. I'd offer my services. I'd do anything to get Spencer away from you."_

_He saw her lip tremble and knew he had hit a nerve._

_But just as fast, she was steady again, her eyes like razor blades as she locked on his. "Too bad I already won this war. I got Spencer away from _you_."_

_Toby's face showed his surprise and Alison smiled slyly._

"_I bet you wish you kissed me when you had the chance." she whispered, centimeters from his mouth, before pulling away and stalking out of the door._

_Toby slammed his fist into the wall._

* * *

Present Day, Toby headed towards Rosewood, watching the trees race by and wondering what on earth he was going to tell Spencer. He had no idea how many lies Alison had planted in her head by now.

But all he wanted was to see her. To hear her voice. Hopefully, to see her smile. That would be enough to make all of this trouble worth it. It would make all the cuts and bruises and cracked ribs he had gained from defending himself from the other guys in the center worth it.

He sighed as he let the bus drive him to where his heart had stayed. He hoped there was still something to find.

* * *

Spencer, Aria, Hanna, and Emily were all giggling and gossiping in the barn. It was their annual Labor Day sleepover. Ali, of course, was fashionably late. They had all gotten together right after she had gotten off the bus from Georgia and cabbed home, but the five of them separated to go to their respective houses for dinner and to pack for the fun night ahead.

Hanna had snuck some liquor from her mother's cabinet for the occasion and they were all taking turns drinking from the mixed drink.

"Good?" Spencer asked Emily who had just gulped some back.

She made a face at her. But before Spencer could take her first swig, the lights went out.

"Whoa, what happened?"

"It must be the storm." Spencer rationalized, always the level-headed one. She picked up the lighter and began lighting the other candles to give them more visual coverage.

There was a bad wind storm going on outside, but they were well safe-guarded in the barn. It was a very sturdy structure.

Suddenly, a sound came from outside the barn that had nothing to do with the wind. It was some sort of haunting creaking.

"Guys, someone's out there." Aria insisted, gripping the flashlight in her hand tighter and grabbing Spencer's arm as they all huddled together to investigate. The barn door spontaneously swung open, flapping in the wind, and causing the four girls to gasp.

"Guys…" Hanna said nervously, reaching back for a free hand to squeeze.

They all screamed when they heard something like glass shattering out of the blue.

Walking very carefully, they all nestled closer as they approached the open door, unsure of what could be waiting on the other side for them.

"Gotcha!" a voice suddenly yelled, causing all of them to gasp again, and Alison jumped inside, grinning brightly at her prank.

"So _not _funny, Alison." Spencer teased her, laughing with the others in relief.

She smirked smugly in return. "I thought it was hilarious."

"Ali, did you download the new Beyonce?" Hanna asked eagerly as if she had researched it extensively and was ready to give a full report for her approval.

Alison smiled. "Ugh, not yet."

"I'm loving her new video." Emily commented as she settled back onto the couch.

"Maybe a little too much, Em." she teased in that knowing way of hers that made everyone feel like she was saying a lot more than those few words.

The others were laughing too much to really notice.

"Your turn." Ali told Aria. Aria smiled before tipping back the glass and taking a long gulp.

"Careful, Aria. Drink too much and you'll tell us all your secrets." Spencer taunted as she chewed on her popcorn.

"Friends tell secrets. That's what keeps us close." Alison said, looking around at all of them as they smiled in return. It was times like these that they remembered that they were lucky to all be friends and so close.

Seeing that Aria had put the glass down, Alison sent her a look.

"Drink up!"

The four not consuming alcohol at the moment giggled as she swallowed more liquid from the red plastic cup.

Another creak came from outside and Emily scooted closer to Hanna as everyone looked in that direction.

"Will you guys relax? There's no one here but us." Alison reassured them, waving at Aria to pass her the glass now for her turn.

They all watched in surprise as Ali took a much longer gulp, somehow managing to still be feminine about it.

"Well, we're all alone out here. It's the perfect opportunity for someone to seek their revenge on us." Hanna explained quietly.

"And who would want to seek revenge on us exactly? BESIDES Jenna Marshall." Alison added, clearly annoyed that they were even having this conversation.

Spencer stole the glass from her. "Hmm, I don't know, maybe Toby Cavanaugh." Spencer threw out there before draining the glass herself.

Considering there was a third of the tall glass left, that was a tough feat.

But no one had heard Spencer utter his name since The Jenna Thing so they all stared in shock.

Alison's eyes turned to slits.

"Spencer, I'm hungry. Let's go get some snacks from your kitchen."

Spencer knew she was in trouble if she was taking her outside of the barn. If Alison was actually hungry, she would've sent someone else to get her food. She knew this was because the leader was going to give her an earful.

The brunette followed suit, excusing herself from the other girls. She knew full well that she had agreed to not mention what had gone down between Toby and Alison on the night of July 4, but Spencer was sick of keeping her mouth shut. She wanted to know what Alison had said to him.

"I thought we had an agreement." Alison hissed as expected once they were inside the Hastings household.

"I know there is more to the story and I want to know what it is." Spencer explained, standing her ground. "What exactly did you say to him?"

"Ugh, Spencer, I thought you were over him already. Let it go. He's gone." she said angrily, moving to head back outside.

Spencer grabbed her arm. "NO. I know he doesn't hate me, so what did you guys talk about?"

"It's done. It's over. I took care of it."

"I didn't ask you to. I never asked you to force Toby into taking the fall for us either. What did you have on him? Did you blackmail him?"

"Spencer, I love how you can't even_ imagine_ Toby changing his mind about you. You dated for like a _week_. Try to stop acting like a psycho-stalker eleven year old."

Spencer ignored her taunting, knowing Alison was trying to distract her which meant she must be getting close. "Did you threaten to hurt him?" she repeated. But then something clicked into place. "Did you threaten to hurt _me_-"

But Alison jumped right in before she could finish. "Listen to you! Trying to rationalize how someone could not like you! You're such a Hastings, Spencer. You think the world revolves around you. Well guess what, it doesn't. Toby wanted nothing to do with you, end of story." she shouted, wrenching her arm out of her grasp.

"Fine. I'll drop it. But when he gets out of that hell-"

"You'll what? Aren't you going to run off with Ian now?" Alison spat.

Spencer flushed. Alison had caught her in a brief moment of weakness earlier in the summer. Melissa's long-term boyfriend was showing her the proper formation for a field hockey hold and had instigated a kiss. Still broken up about Toby, she had indulged for a moment before they separated and Alison came out of the shadows to call her out on it.

Ever since, Alison had been trying to force Spencer into telling her sister; bringing it up when Melissa was around with Ian, talking loudly about it when she knew she was in hearing distance, etc.

Spencer wasn't sure exactly why she was so adamant about Melissa knowing the truth. It was a mistake, one Spencer regretted, and one she wasn't looking to repeat. Whether Melissa ever knew the truth or not was irrelevant. It wouldn't happen again. It was over.

But not to Alison.

"I told you. That was a one-time thing. I don't want to be with Ian. He and Melissa belong together. I want Toby."

"You know, she'll be home soon, won't she? If you don't tell her the truth, I'll tell her tomorrow. How do you think she'll feel hearing it from me?"

Spencer wasn't oblivious to the fact that Melissa wasn't a big fan of Alison.

Spencer thought of earlier, how thoughtful and sweet her sister had been when she was checking to make sure she was okay. She was hoping they were on the road to a stronger sister relationship. But this would surely shatter it all.

And if it was Alison who told her, well, Spencer might as well start picking out her own coffin now.

"Why are you making me do this? Why do you care if she knows?"

Sensing a win based on the desperation in her voice, Alison continued more strongly, obviously pleased to be the one back in power. "I'm not _making_ you do anything, Spencer. I'm telling you… by tomorrow, Melissa will know everything. And there's nothing you can do about it, besides let her hear it from you first."

The tears built up in Spencer's eyes in frustration and she had had enough.

"Fine. I'll tell her. You win." she told her furiously. "But this is it. Because I'm sick of your games. We _all_ are."

Spencer pushed past her, but Alison whipped her back around.

"Trying to get me voted off the island?" Alison demanded. "It won't work."

"Well I don't think you'll have much of a choice."

"I _made_ you, Spencer. I made all of you. Before me, you were just a goody-goody in plaid who did whatever mommy and daddy told her to."

Spencer stared at her for a moment in pure shock. "You are so full of yourself! You think just because you brought us together means you can treat us like puppets?!"

There was something eerie about the way Alison gazed back at her. It was almost... hauntingly. Like she was a zombie, or a ghost. "But you are. Don't you see? You don't _exist _without me."

"Then tell me this. What is a leader without any followers? Because it seems to me the question isn't whether _we_ will exist without _you_, but whether _you_ will exist without _us_. And as far as I'm considered, you are DEAD to me already." she snarled ferociously similar to a rabid beast.

It didn't take her above average IQ to understand that she had upset her friend. Alison's eyes filled with tears and she strode past Spencer to leave outside.

Alison was never one to back down from a battle. She must have hit a serious nerve.

Suddenly what she said caught up to her. Spencer raced after her.

"Ali!" Spencer shouted, but the blonde kept walking. "Ali, please, wait!"

Alison turned around, tears streaming down her cheeks. Spencer's were mirroring hers when she caught up to her.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. I just… I was just really mad."

"I only push you because I'm trying to help you, Spencer." Alison told her, sniffing back her tears.

Spencer didn't know what to say. She was still so angry, but she didn't want to lose Alison. She just wanted the mind games and bullying to stop.

"Look, Spencer." Ali began. "I know why you want to keep your kiss with Ian from Melissa, but secrets like that will come back to bite you. The sooner she knows, the sooner the tidal wave will crash down and sweep away again."

Spencer contemplated this. But that wasn't the only reason she was upset with her friend.

Alison seemed to pick up on this. "Spence, out of all of the girls, you're the one that feels like my sister the most. It tends to make me… more protective. Please don't ask me to apologize for wanting to keep you safe from getting hurt."

Spencer pulled her into a tight hug, burying her face in her shoulder as she squeezed. Ali returned the embrace with just as much strength, clearly needing the support too.

There was something almost desperate in Alison's hold. Like she was about to break and needed Spencer's arms hugging her to stitch her back together. But before Spencer could ask about it, Alison's phone buzzed.

She broke away from Spencer and read the display.

"Who is it?" Spencer asked, seeing the tiny bit of surprise in her eyes. Only a real friend of Alison's would have been able to detect it.

"My brother. You go ahead, Spence. I'll meet up with you." she said.

Spencer nodded, ninety percent sure Alison was lying but not wanting to start pushing when they _just _made up. "I'm going to go grab some snacks for us. I'll see you after."

Alison smiled gratefully at her before walking a few steps to answer her phone.

Spencer headed inside.

* * *

After gathering some pretzels and candy as well as some more blankets since the storm had passed and left a chill in its wake, Spencer stuffed them in a big recyclable bag and hoisted it over her shoulder before heading back towards the barn.

A noise in the trees caught her attention. Alison appeared to have returned to the girls. In fact, she could hear the four of them giggling from where she was. But it was clear it wasn't just a squirrel that made that noise.

That's when Spencer saw the familiar leather jacket and tousled brown hair.

"Toby?"


	8. Chapter 8

I don't like to leave you guys with a cliffhanger for too long... ;) Glad you guys didn't think last chapter was too long. It just sorted of needed to be, huh? But for future reference, the rest of the chapters will probably be closer to this size.

...don't hate me for this chapter. This is a Spoby story. Have faith.

I will try to update as soon as I can, but this is the week from hell for me at school and finals are next week. Please be patient. Things will pick up very soon. Love you all x3 Enjoy!

**I do not own Pretty Little Liars.**

* * *

Toby flinched a little at the sound of his name.

It wasn't the response he would've expected a mere hour ago at the sound of Spencer's dripping honey voice caressing his name out of her mouth, but it was the response he was forced into experiencing now.

After his conversation with Alison, he felt worse than ever.

* * *

_Toby had called her. Perhaps foolishly, but a lot had changed since she had visited him at reform school. He suddenly realized after his meeting with Jenna that as much as he hated Alison for what she had done, he sort of owed her one._

_Alison had answered and agreed to meet with him. She was clearly intrigued by why he was calling her but he knew that was his only hook so he had to preserve it until he was face-to-face with her._

_She told him to meet her in the woods behind the Hastings' barn. Since her house was next door to Spencer's, he didn't find that that odd. It wasn't until later that he learned she was attending a sleepover with the rest of the gang._

"_Alison." he said when he spotted her lingering near an oak, looking bored._

_Her bored expression didn't disappear when she realized he had arrived._

"_Toby. How's reform school treating you?" she asked slyly._

_He mentally cursed himself for doing this._

_But Alison's face changed to concern as he got closer. She no doubt was noticing the fork-shaped healing scar on his neck. It was fading, but a part of it would always be there. Or maybe she had x-ray vision and was observing all of the purple and black patches coating his torso from the latest gang beat-up he had experienced._

"_Rough." he replied._

_He was surprised to see she looked sorry about that fact. She shifted her weight on her feet uncomfortably. He knew that, although Alison DiLaurentis was evil, she also wasn't the happiest over what had all gone down on July 4__th__._

"_So what did you want to meet about? I've got to get back to the girls or else they'll send hound dogs out for me or something." Alison said impatiently, picking at her nails while surveying him._

"_Oh… um…"_

_It sounded dumb now. But he gathered his courage and remembered why he was doing this. He wanted to make peace with Alison for the sake of his relationship with Spencer. Although Toby would never understand why Spencer was drawn to Alison, he knew that he would have to support her on the friendship or else he'd lose her._

"_Look. I know we had our… issues. But I was hoping we could put them behind us. As much as what happened obviously ruined a lot of things, it did help me too. I'm not saying I'm happy with what you did, but I feel I should thank you. For getting me away from Jenna."_

_Alison observed him carefully, silent, as if assessing what his motives were._

"_I know you think you know what was going on between us. And I'm sure if you peeked in at the right moments, it certainly would look that way. But I never wanted things to transpire between us that way. I… I just wanted her to be my step-sister. I didn't want…"_

_Toby trailed off, feeling stuck. It was hard to talk about, especially with someone as judgmental and with as much against him as Alison._

_But to his surprise, Ali's face became somber. "I knew what was happening. But how could I stop it when even you couldn't? I know you tried, more than once, but Jenna always got what she wanted."_

_Toby stared at her. The understanding in her tone made him wary._

_Alison flipped her blonde hair over her shoulder. "Look, Toby. I appreciate you trying to be a hero or something and thanking me for this. But the truth is, you got yourself away from her, not me. I maybe was a catalyst. But as soon as you and Spencer got together, you were stronger."_

_He didn't know what to say._

_Alison stepped closer to him, looking mournful. "Now that you're free from Jenna, you don't need Spencer anymore."_

_Those words snapped Toby out of his stunned reverie. He shook his head. "No Alison, I still need her. She's all that I want. I love her."_

_Alison's face morphed back into its usual snarl. "If you love her, you'll let her go. What did you think? That you could come back after going away to delinquent camp and have a chance with her? Toby, her parents will have you, and her, shipped to separate continents before you can say teen pregnancy. They won't allow their daughter to date a fugitive. You're delusional if you think you'll have a chance with her, or with this town, when you come back. People have been talking. You know what this town is like. Once you get out, I'd get far away from Rosewood. Save yourself."_

"_I think it's up to Spencer whether she wants me or not." Toby told her angrily._

_Alison rolled her eyes. "Spencer is just a girl. Toby, you swooped in and saved her from a terrible fate. How tactless would it be for her to reject you after that? She won't. Spencer has a good heart. You know that. But it isn't fair to put her through all the ridicule and pain that waiting around for you will cause. She'll get bullied. Kicked out. Abandoned."_

"_I'll take care of her." Toby promised._

"_With what job? Do you think someone around here is going to hire you when you set fire to a garage and blinded your own step-sister? It's a small town, Toby. And Spencer is used to Bloomingdale's and Tiffany's. You know as well as I do that Spencer isn't strong enough to survive all that, especially with you away until next summer."_

_Toby was silent, trying to absorb this. He didn't want to believe it. But he knew she had a point. He would never want Spencer to suffer because of him. He always knew she was too good for him; why was he hurting so much from being reminded of the truth?_

"_Did you tell her I love her?"_

_Alison shook her head, placing a hand on his arm. "Toby. It's easier this way. She's had time to get used to you being away. She'll let you go easier if you just leave her be. Don't torture her. You know how fragile she really is. It's better if she just remembers what you guys had as a temporary fling. Don't prolong it and make it harder for her to say goodbye to you. If you love her, you'll let her go."_

_Toby turned away from her then, feeling the tears building. There was an intense heaviness in his heart. Let Spencer go? Never hold her hand, or tickle her until tears streamed down her face, or share a long goodbye kiss before parting? He wouldn't get to hear her ramble on about the literary themes in the short story she was reading or the uses of dramatic irony in Hamlet or how many words she could read a minute. He couldn't experience that flush of pink that reached her cheeks every time he paid her a compliment she well deserved, or watch her dance like a fool to the latest hit on the radio. He'd have to let all of his memories go, and all his hopes for the future._

_He had never looked to the future much. He was lucky enough if he survived the day. But once he found Spencer, the future seemed much brighter. Now it was back to its stormy overcast._

"_Fine." he replied._

"_I'm sorry, Toby." Alison told him, sounding sincere. "I should get back. I'll see you around."_

_He nodded numbly, feeling his soul crumbling from the inside out. He'd never see Spencer again. He had fears of that in reform school, but knew they were foolish. Now he wondered why he had been so irrational to believe that they couldn't be true._

_Toby wiped his face irritably, feeling like kicking something. He had done this for Spencer. Gave up everything, ruined his own life, so that she could have hers. He guessed this was just part of the package deal. Alison was right. He would only poison her life when he came back. _If_ he came back._

"_Toby?"_

_Toby felt his insides chill. The very person he had just found in himself to leave was standing several feet away, looking excited that he was there._

* * *

Toby turned to face her, seeing her mocha eyes widen in delight at the sight of him in all of his 6'1 build.

He tried not to feel panicked, but he desperately wanted to run. That smile was enough to send his heart into palpitations and now that he had made up his mind about letting her go, it would only make it that much harder.

"Spencer." he said gruffly, trying not to choke on the lump still prominent in his throat.

Spencer gazed at the man she hadn't stopped thinking about since she had seen him last. There was so much she wanted to know, so much she needed to ask, but right now, all she wanted to do was throw herself at him and kiss the breath from his mouth.

She began walking towards him, but he shrunk back as if he was afraid of her. His expression was stony, and Spencer realized in horror that maybe Alison had been right. Did Toby really hate her? Did he think she was evil?

"Toby…" she said slowly. He simply looked to the ground. It was clear he didn't want to be within three feet of her. But why else was he here? "What… what's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm just wondering what you want." he explained.

Spencer felt the tears creep up before she could stop them. She could see bruises on the parts of his skin that was exposed, his knuckles had scabs from bleeding so many times, and it was clear that reform school hadn't been good to him. He seemed even more afraid of people than before.

Or maybe he was just more afraid of her now that he knew what she was capable of.

"I… I want… you." she whispered, the tears streaming down her cheeks now. She stepped closer and grabbed his arm before he could pull away. "Please, Toby. I'm sorry you took the fall for us. I'm sorry that Alison blackmailed you into it or whatever she did. I didn't know. One second she said she'd handle it and the next you're in the back of a police car! I never wanted that to happen."

"I know, Spence." he said, cursing himself for using a nickname. It made it too personal. He corrected his throat and released her. He accidentally had placed his hand atop hers. "I'm not mad at you for what went down. I'm over that."

Spencer felt relieved. It couldn't be all bad then, right?

He stood up straighter, taking another step back so he wouldn't go on reflex and try to comfort her. "But things _are_ different now. You and I…"

"Can still work. I'll wait for you. Toby, you're the only one I want." she gushed, too excited that they might still have a chance to understand what his desolate expression was telling her.

"No." he said sternly, forcing the pain eating away at his heart into anger that he had to do this. It was for her, but it was clear she wouldn't understand that now. "You and I… we can't be together. Ever again. We're done."

"But… Toby, please. I know I screwed up. I know I don't deserve you-"

Toby turned towards the woods, trying not to break down. Hearing the agony in her voice only further drove the squeezing in his lungs into knots. He would be gasping for air soon. He couldn't take this. Hurting her was worse than anything he had ever been through. He'd take the hard kicks to his ribcage or the punches deep in his gut over this any day.

"It doesn't matter. The past doesn't matter. You shouldn't wait for me. You should… find someone else."

"I don't want someone else. I want you." she pleaded stubbornly.

Sucking up the last of his courage, which was wavering on the edge of a cliff, he took a step towards the woods. "Well, I don't want you. Goodbye Spencer."

He barely got the words out before he started walking. He could hear her cries, but he blocked them out. There was a whooshing of blood rushing in his ears and then somehow he was running. Running, running, running, until the trees were a blur and he couldn't catch his breath. Running until he had forgotten why he was running, forgotten why he was so broken, forgotten why he would never smile again.

The world decided to kick him one more time while he was down.

He tripped on a turned-over branch and collapsed in a heap. It was like his pain finally caught up to him, knocking the breath out of him. He suddenly broke out into sobs as his broken heart at long last shattered into a thousand pieces.

There was nothing else left for him in this world.

* * *

It took some time before Spencer could pull herself together. But the last thing she wanted was Alison or the other girls coming out to look for her. She grabbed the bag she placed on the ground, wiped her face, and decided in that moment that she would be stronger.

They had only dated a week really. That was all. She could get over this. She _would_ get over this. Toby had clearly made up his mind and that was that. For once, Alison had been telling the truth.

Heading inside, she pulled out the snacks and plastered on a smile. But as soon as the refilled cup of alcohol was in her hand, she swallowed back as much as she could. She had never been a drinker, but tonight she didn't care.

She really didn't care about much anymore.

Alison seemed to pick up on this, but didn't say anything, just offered a reassuring knee squeeze when the other girls weren't paying attention.

Spencer wasn't entirely positive, but she was pretty sure she saw the hint of a smile on her face.

* * *

Toby wasn't sure how long he stayed in the woods, but when it was too dark to see in front of him, he finally picked himself off the ground. It was getting colder, and he needed to head to the bus station. But first he needed to find the road.

So he walked back the way he came. He wasn't sure exactly where he was going but if he got lost and never went back to reform school he couldn't really find it in himself to care. His parents would probably be relieved; they'd only have one problem child to deal with. Not that they ever thought Jenna was a problem; but her disability definitely changed things in that already messed up household.

Toby saw some light through the trees and kept walking. To his surprise, he realized he had found his way back to the Hastings. That was unfortunate. The last thing he could stand was to run into Spencer again.

But he was sure she was asleep by now. It was late and she had no reason to leave the barn.

Despite the logic behind this fact, Toby _did_ spot a familiar figure sneaking out of the barn. But the swish of blonde hair and the yellow top distinguished her from Spencer's dark hair and argyle sweater.

"Alison?"

Alison jumped, clearly not expecting that. "Jesus Christ, Toby, are you trying to give me a heart attack?" she demanded irritably.

"Sorry… I…. where are you going?"

She smiled wickedly. "Nowhere that you need to worry about. What the hell are you still doing here?"

"I… I left but… I went the wrong way and…" he trailed off. He really didn't feel like getting into it, and it's not like Alison actually cared.

She observed him strangely, apparently trying to figure him out, when the wind blew hard enough to shake the trees.

The storm may have mostly passed, but it still left heavy wind in its wake.

He noticed Alison shiver and, without even thinking about it, shrugged out of his green sweater.

"Here. It's cold."

She looked like she was about to quip something sassy, but another gust bustled through and she graciously accepted it, wrapping it tightly around her torso.

"Thanks. It was warm when I left my house earlier so I hadn't thought to bring one."

Toby nodded.

Headlights flashed and Alison grinned, the polite girl disappearing just as fast as her frown.

"Well, duty calls. See you around, Toby… or maybe I won't." she teased slyly, reminding him when he least needed it that he had a hell to get back to.

She skipped off, climbing into the dark car in the street. Toby squinted, trying to see who was driving or even what color car it was in case he recognized it, but it was too dark.

The car sped off down the street.

Toby placed his hands in his pockets and began walking again, only casting a sad look back once to the barn that held the love of his life.

How was he going to survive reform school now?

* * *

Spencer blamed her headache for waking her up. She wasn't positive that that was the reason, but to this day she figured it must have been that or natural instinct that roused her from her deep slumber.

After everything that had gone down that day, she was exhausted. Only something disturbing her could have yanked her out of that sleep.

Looking around the barn, Spencer realized that Alison was missing. The other three were snuggled in their makeshift beds—Hanna and Emily were curled up on the couch, and Aria was next to Spencer.

The door to the barn blew open a crack, startling Spencer and causing her to rise out of her bed.

They really needed to get a lock on that thing.

The tall brunette grabbed a flashlight and headed out to check it out. There was no need to alarm the other girls. Alison had probably just run inside to pee, or get more food, or maybe she forgot something at home.

Right?

Spencer slipped inside the house, but the kitchen was dark and so was the bathroom. She checked the upstairs too, seeing if maybe Alison had decided to crash in Spencer's bed instead. After all, she had done that once when the rest of them slept in a different room. They woke in a panic and Alison had laughed her head off and claimed she deserved to have the princess' bed.

Spencer hadn't appreciated the jab.

That same panic she felt before was beginning to build in her chest as she exited the back door. Where was Ali?

A frightened scream caught Spencer off guard and she nearly went careening into the rosebushes at the sound. It had come from Ali's yard. Or maybe the woods. Spencer wasn't sure.

"Ali?!" Spencer shouted.

She really should've known better. People who go looking for trouble in horror movies always end up the dead ones first.

But Spencer wasn't thinking rationally. All she could think was that her friend might be hurt. Maybe she just tripped or got stuck in the yard somewhere, or twisted her ankle on a fallen tree branch.

Either way, Spencer was sure that was Ali who screamed.

Only hesitating for a moment, Spencer raced off towards the woods, shining her flashlight in every crevice. She didn't go too far in; the sound was too close to the house to be too far.

Not finding anything after almost twenty minutes, Spencer ran towards Ali's house. Her breath was coming out in short gasps, the adrenaline was pumping hard in her veins, but she knew it would run out soon. She couldn't see Ali anywhere.

Spencer felt defeated. Had she imagined Ali's scream? She couldn't have. But if she didn't, where was Alison? What happened to her?

Her scream was filled with fear. With panic. Surely someone wouldn't have hurt her, right? Spencer heard of that sort of thing happening plenty—child abductors, rapists, chain saw murderers… who knew what sort of insanity could have scared the fearless Alison DiLaurentis. But the longer Spencer looked, the more she felt that this wasn't just some prank of Ali's. Her friend was in serious trouble.

She headed off towards the barn, trying to calm down. Maybe Ali had gone back there?

As soon as she heard Aria's hopeful "Ali?" resonate from inside the barn, Spencer felt the sinking feeling sink its claws into every cell inside her body.

"She's gone."

"What do you mean she's gone?"

"I've looked everywhere for her." Spencer told her three scared friends, unable to hide the fear in her voice or keep it off her face.

Aria simply stared at her. Emily and Hanna shared an uneasy look, looking back at Spencer for more answers.

Spencer swallowed before admitting the next thing.

"…I think I heard her scream."


	9. Chapter 9

Not going to give excuses, but apologies for my lateness. Last weeks of term and then exam week... it was nuts. Anyways, I finally got some time today to work on this and am uploading it for you lovely people. It's nice and long so hopefully it'll make up for the lateness.

I did warn about a time jump, and I might as well tell you now if you haven't caught on, that I will be following the basic storyline of the show with my own twists added in. It'll be roughly one episode per chapter, with some being either chunked together, summarized over, or broken into two. All depends on how my muse cooperates. Keep in mind this is a SPOBY story, so I will be twisting certain events or feelings to make them work with that. But there are some things I DO need to keep the same in order to do things LATER. So just because you think something/someone can be cut out, it probably just means you don't know what my plans are in the future ;)

As always, much love and appreciation to each of you, especially those that provide me feedback! Honestly means the world.

Have you guys ever tried to follow the exact timeline of the pilot? It actually gets super confusing. So if anything doesn't make sense to what you've seen, pretend it's creative freedom, yes? ;) And of course, I will have bended certain things a little to make them work, but for the most part, I steal quotes or entire passages from the show as I've warned before.

**I do not own Pretty Little Liars.**

* * *

_-One Year Later-_

Spencer Hastings settled outside as the moon rose higher in the sky, thumbing through the pages of _To Kill a Mockingbird_. They would be starting it tomorrow no doubt. It was always the junior English class' first assignment.

Being the kind of girl that she was, Spencer had already read it several times growing up. Literary classics were more common in her upbringing than cartoons and junk food.

She only had lantern light and the patio lights strung above to aid her reading, but she enjoyed the peace of outside too much to contemplate moving inside to read.

Despite her busy hands, her mind couldn't help but reflect back on the day she had had. It had been a long, weird twenty-four hours.

First days of school were never really that fun. At least not for normal people. But Spencer was never normal when it came to the academic side of things. She very much enjoyed diving right back into school and activities.

Last year, it really had been a saving grace. She was so busy from sun up to sun down that she didn't have time to really miss Toby or Alison, let alone the other best friends that had drifted away.

After Alison's disappearance, Aria's family moved to Iceland under the lieu of her father getting a new job. Most of the town saw it for what it was though; a chance to keep their daughter safe and protected not just from whatever happened to Alison, but to give her a chance to have a fresh start. They were all so young to be dealing with so much.

As expected with long distance, the calls became fewer and far between and soon the texts and emails stopped all together. Spencer felt as though she actually kept in touch with Aria the longest out of the three, which only made it sadder.

Emily became really serious about swimming and was practicing all the time. Spencer could understand that; after all, she herself had joined about eight clubs and spent her weekends practicing essay writing and reading classic literature.

But with the new obsession, although Emily had always been a water bug, came a new set of friends and a boyfriend that suddenly liked being the center of her world. They had been dating while Alison had been alive, getting together the year before she went missing, but as with young relationships, it was more of a social status than a commitment.

Hanna, too, had changed. Her outer image had gotten quite the makeover. With forty pounds gone and new clothes, hair, make-up, and all the fixings, she had quickly become the new It girl. She had learned from the best after all.

Accompanying that role was the dry humor and the giggling behind people's backs. She and Mona, another girl who had had the same drastic change, soon were running the school.

Spencer had found it entertaining how quickly the student body had adapted to the two girls that used to be shunned. They were like bees in a colony. But if it wasn't for Hanna being friends with Ali, Spencer was sure Mona never would've been able to climb the social ladder to the top.

But Hanna had learned all the tricks and treats of being the queen bee thanks to Alison. Spencer was sure Alison would be proud, which was likely half of the motivation behind her motives. It was always clear how much Hanna wanted to impress Alison while she was around.

Hell, didn't all of them?

The few times the girls would run into each other, they'd still be friendly, but it was nothing like it was. There was too much tension, too many memories, for them to keep things like they were. The thing they all really had in common was Alison, and now that was gone.

Spencer had run into Hanna before school at the mall when she was picking out a new shirt to wear to dinner that night. She was grateful that Hanna had pushed her to buy the more flattering halter top than the plain white blouse she had originally been going for. Despite their loss of contact, Hanna still knew her _and_ her rivalry with her sister.

And she had a point—Melissa didn't _always_ have to win.

Spencer was even more grateful of that when she had met Wren and realized how cute he was.

Although, after her little tiff with Melissa in front of him earlier, he probably wasn't the most impressed with her maturity, but at least the shirt might catch the better end of his attention. However, her irritation with Melissa had been the real pusher to pull the shirt on for the group dinner with their parents that night.

Checking her watch, Spencer realized they'd be leaving shortly. She had been so caught up in her self-appointed homework she had lost track of time. Just because it was the first day of school, didn't mean Spencer couldn't think ahead. She was using this quiet time to write notes in the margins and dog-ear important pages to reference later. She already had her final essay topic in mind.

As she contemplated her three main arguments and rebuttals in her mind, a familiar figure slipped between the bushes.

Well, speak of the devil.

Clearly not seeing her, Melissa's new fiancé Wren extinguished his cigarette in the potted plant.

She rolled her eyes. "Shouldn't you know better? I mean, you _are_ a med student, right?" she added patronizingly.

He smirked, spotting her lounging on the wooden patio chair. "And you're a bit of a smartass." His British accent rang clear in the silent night.

"A bit?" she countered, driving his point further home as she flipped a page in her book, smirking. "Does Melissa know you smoke?"

"Does she have to know everything?" he replied, raising an eyebrow.

They shared a smile, eyes locked, before Spencer averted her eyes again as her face heated up. He actually had a really sweet smile.

"I'm sorry we're moving into your loft. If you want me to say anything…"

Spencer shook her head slightly. "It wouldn't make a difference. But thank you for being sorry." she added, not wanting to sound ungrateful, and frankly rather surprised at his sincerity.

A thought struck her as she sat up, marking the page in her book.

"You're not like Melissa's usual boyfriends…"

Wren looked amused, and intrigued. "How am I unusual?"

She tried not to smile. "We're late for dinner."

Spencer crossed the patio, pausing as she passed him.

"I actually like you. _That's_ what's unusual." she mused, smiling a little at him before slipping inside.

Spencer tried not to blush, feeling Wren's eyes glued to her back as she walked away. She briefly wondered what he might be thinking.

But it didn't matter if the cute British guy was flirting with her. For as soon as she felt the butterflies of flattery come to life in her belly, it was another sweet smile that came to her mind.

She hadn't seen Toby since that night… since the night where everything changed. For all she knew, he was still caged in there, or had been released early. She had spent many nights wondering if they would ever cross paths again.

But she had also grown up in the last year. She didn't have a choice. One of her best friends, someone who had been so constant in her life since the seventh grade, had disappeared. The authorities may not know what happened to her, and although Spencer didn't know the gruesome details, she did know deep down that Alison was gone and wasn't coming back.

Of course, there was always a bud of hope that maybe Alison was safe and warm somewhere, off travelling the world under the persona of someone else or something equally glamorous. Out of everybody in the world, she would do something that insane and not tell a soul. Alison loved her secrets.

So many things had happened in that one night. The only thing she could be grateful of was that she and Alison had made up before she lost her. She would've hated herself for having those harsh words be the last she ever said to her best friend.

Spencer watched her reflection in the bathroom mirror as a few tears slipped from her eyes. She reached up to stop their path, frustrated with herself for showing weakness. Alison might be fine. She had to keep believing that. She couldn't give up on her.

There was a part of Spencer that really believed if you willed something, it could happen.

But that was such a small part of her. Most of her was too scientific and practical for that. And she had compared statistics and numbers and facts after Alison went missing and they all pointed to the same thing.

Even if Alison was abducted, and kept alive this long, she wouldn't be the same girl when she was found, _if_ she was found. But that scream still haunted Spencer's nightmares. It wasn't the scream someone let out when they were being grabbed. There wasn't a cry for help mixed in. When Alison had screamed, it had been in pure terror. She had been screaming like her life was about to flash before her eyes. And Spencer had a feeling that this wasn't some random act of violence.

It's not as though Alison was an angel. There were a lot of people that really hated her. And frankly, Spencer couldn't blame them. Alison certainly knew how to be cruel when she wanted to be. But she tried not to think of those times. She wanted to remember Alison for her sweet moments, not her bullying, but that really was easier said than done.

Spencer's mind would always drift back to Toby. The fact that Alison sent him away, broke them up, and she still had no idea why. She didn't believe what Alison said, although that night outside the barn really shoved that point home. Toby was going along with whatever Alison had said and making it very clear that he didn't want her, not now, not ever.

Still, Spencer had a tiny shell of hope that maybe she had been wrong. Maybe one day they could find a way to make it work. Maybe it had all been a huge misunderstanding.

But that scientific side of her brain won the argument again and reminded her that she probably would never see Toby again.

Spencer sighed. She had to move on from him. She had to let go. It had been over a year since he had even smiled when he saw her. She could almost feel the icy chill of bitterness she had gained over the past year since that night frost over her heart again.

As long as she didn't think about their time together, she could force her anger at him for being so spiteful with her to take over the loneliness and longing for his company she only let herself feel in moments of weakness.

Correcting her throat to push away the lump in her throat as well as shove her thoughts away, Spencer fixed her make-up, wondering if she would ever be able to move on from the blue-eyed boy of her past.

* * *

The next few days at school didn't get any simpler. Aria was back in Rosewood now, which only made the difference in their friendship all the more clear. She hadn't even called or messaged to say she was moving back.

But that first day of English class something had happened. The new English teacher had looked directly at her and cursed, as if shocked to see her, and her mirroring expression only alerted the rest of them that they knew each other somehow. Most likely, not in a teacher-student way.

Spencer had been intrigued, the school girl part of her wanting the gossip, but Aria had never called to gush about it.

But why would she really? They had drifted apart, just like she had with the other two girls.

Which is why Spencer hadn't pressed Emily much earlier in the locker room after field hockey practice when she was changing after swimming, despite her wishes to. Her expression had alarmed her, it was filled with confusion and almost fear, but when she asked about it, Emily had smiled and said everything was fine.

Spencer had known her too long to believe her. But she had lost the right to push her on it when she lost touch with her over the past year. Emily had new friends to confide in, and although Spencer would always care for her, she wasn't that person she would go to anymore.

Her worry over Emily didn't evaporate after she left the locker room though. It followed her home, and Spencer decided she needed a soak in the Jacuzzi, especially with the way her muscles were aching from practice.

Slipping into her brown striped bikini, Spencer slung a fluffy towel over her shoulder and grabbed a soda.

As luck would have it, a newly present figure in her home waltzed through the back doors moments later.

"Perfect time for a Jacuzzi." Wren suggested, grinning at her as he waved back towards the backyard.

"I thought you guys weren't moving in until next week." Spencer noted, sipping at her can of diet cola.

"Melissa wanted to get settled before classes start."

_Of course she did_, Spencer groaned inwardly.

Wren's smile suddenly turned playful again. "You wouldn't happen to have a towel, would you?" he teased, clearly seeing the white cotton hanging over her shoulder.

Returning the smile in amusement, she tossed him it with grace. As he dried himself off, she rubbed at her shoulder, wincing a little at the tension there. Her eyes ran over his exposed torso, not minding the view, until he turned back towards her. She adjusted herself as if she hadn't been gawking.

"Tough day at school?" he asked.

"Tough field hockey practice." she corrected with a grimace as she dug deeper.

Wren's eyes lit up. "I used to row for Oxford."

"Ooh that looks good on a med school app." Spencer taunted, cursing herself for her rather pathetic flirting skills, and then again for flirting in the first place.

Wren was Melissa's boyfriend. And… well, no, she didn't really have an excuse besides that. Toby was out of her life now.

"I did it because I loved it…" Wren explained passionately, pulling her out of her thoughts.

"Mmm." she hummed, averting her gaze in bashfulness now. He certainly wasn't afraid to keep his eyes on her.

"You probably have a fluid buildup in your bursa sac." he explained, gesturing to her shoulder.

He circled behind her and she cast her eyes over her shoulder to meet his.

Holding back her laughter, Spencer threw another witty line at him. "I bet you say that to all the girls…"

Amused, and seeking permission, Wren paused. "I can help."

"Okay…" she finally agreed. It really was bothering her.

His hands set to work, pushing firmly and sinuously over the knot that she couldn't quite reach. Spencer felt it shifting, easing the pain away. "That's awesome." she breathed, her eyes closing of their own accord as she unintentionally leaned back into his touch.

The intimacy of what he was doing began to catch up to her. They were both barely clothed, and he was touching her in a way that was making her feel things she hadn't felt in a while.

He pressed closer to her as he worked harder to loosen the knot in her muscles, his body heat beginning to seep into her skin at the close proximity. She was curious on what his expression was in that moment, but her back was to him. Somehow she knew that something had changed between them; his touch had altered in a subtle way that made her feel like he might suddenly whip her around and kiss her.

Without understanding why, she hoped he would.

"Wren?" Melissa's voice came from another room, nearing, and, without verbalizing it, the pair separated awkwardly.

Spencer quickly slipped out of the back door, trying to figure out what she was going to do about her growing attraction to her sister's boyfriend.

* * *

After her soak, which lasted much less time than she would've liked since she was too afraid of Melissa and Wren coming back outside, she changed and got started on her homework. She found it much easier to concentrate when they went out to dinner together and she was left alone in the house. The peacefulness radiated from more than just the silence after that.

But she heard them come home and quickly stepped away from her computer to peek out of her room window.

The two of them had stopped outside of the barn door, exchanging kisses and giggles, and Spencer couldn't help but watch longingly. She missed that. It hurt to see it. And she knew that wasn't because of her new building feelings for Wren.

An alert from her computer dragged her away from the scene and she opened the new email.

_Poor Spencer. Always wants Melissa's boyfriends. But remember, if you kiss I tell. –A_

Staring at the screen, her eyes zoned in on one particular letter. A. That's how Alison used to sign her texts or emails.

Alison was the only one who knew about her and Ian's kiss while Melissa and he were still dating. It had to be her. But how?

Spencer walked over to the window that looked directly into Alison's old room. They used to sit by their windows and have phone conversations while looking at each other. Spencer always loved when she could see Alison giggle at something she said, more than just hearing it. There was something about making Alison laugh in a good way that made you feel on top of the world. _Special_.

She didn't know why she had even gone to the window. Alison's family had sold that house and the new tenants had just moved in the other day. But Spencer straightened up in surprise when she saw a flash of blonde hair leave from view of the window.

"Alison?" Spencer whispered in shock.

Could it really be? Was Alison back?

* * *

Spencer was reorganizing her desk when she heard the sirens come blaring down the street. Her parents were still out and Melissa and Wren were no doubt busy with themselves in the barn.

She ran downstairs and down the driveway, stopping outside of the bushes by the gate when she saw the huge collection of people outside of the DiLaurentis' old house.

Spencer wasn't even aware the tears were falling down her face until the word CORONER on the black van was suddenly blurred.

There was no doubting what they had found. She knew earlier must have just been a trick her mind was playing on her, probably her brain glitching and replaying an old memory of all the years she'd seen Alison in her room. That wasn't even her house anymore; why would she be in there?

Spencer wasn't sure how long she stood there, but more police cars came and a body was wheeled out and into the black van. She saw Emily run past everybody and embrace a young girl their age. She remembered seeing her when the movers were around, so clearly she was her new neighbor. Leave it to Emily to be the sweetest to people that Spencer should really know.

Another familiar brunette got out of a car but started heading back towards where Spencer was standing. It took her a moment to realize it was Aria.

She stood next to her and they both briefly stared at each other, like they had never seen a human before, and turned back to the scene. What could you really say in a time like this? They both knew there was no doubt about whose body was in that black canvas.

Was it really all over?

"I heard the cops took Hanna to the police station today." was the first words that Aria spoke to her in almost a year.

Spencer felt the familiar panic brew in her core. She knew what Aria was getting at.

"You don't think she'd ever talk about-"

"The Jenna Thing?" the blonde in question interrupted, stepping forwards and joining them on the sidewalk now. "We made a promise."

The three old friends didn't say anything more as the best friend they had lost left their lives for good.

* * *

The crowd finally dispersed, and, without more than a glance between them, the girls separated and went home.

Spencer had headed back inside and settled in the red armchair by the window. She didn't know why exactly, but she felt closer to Alison somehow by sitting in the window opposite of her old room.

It was sort of morbid in a way, but she couldn't really do much else. It was all still sinking in that her best friend really and truly was gone.

Spencer tried to read the book in her hands, but she mostly was staring at the pages, lost in memories and the sick feeling that Alison's body had been only feet away from her this past year. A part of her felt like she should've known, she should've sensed it somehow, and that that night, when Spencer went looking for her, she should've found her.

Alison was vindictive, and mean, and manipulative, but she was still one of the best friends Spencer had ever known. And that was why she finally had to bow her head and cry.

Little did Spencer know that someone was watching her. It wasn't the luminous figure that had sent her that –A message earlier, but another troubled soul.

Toby Cavanaugh kept his distance, but he was watching her through her window.

Despite Alison's attempts to convince the other girls that he was a peeping Tom, he had never looked in anyone's windows. But this time he had to make an exception.

He had heard all of the ruckus when he was out on his evening stroll. He had made the wise decision to only come out at night since he had returned home a few days before. He didn't miss the glares his own neighbors gave him when he went outside to get the mail, so he knew the rest of the town was bound to be just as unwelcoming.

Alison had been right. He shouldn't have come back. This town would never change and he was on the brinks of exile.

But he had to come back. Because this is where Spencer was.

It had been a year and he had left things pretty rough the last time he had seen her. He didn't expect her to pine after him and hold on to the feelings of the beginning of that fateful summer. But a part of him hoped she would. Because he wasn't giving up.

He knew Alison had a point that night they met outside the barn. His reputation would only cause a rift between him and Spencer. But after he got back to reform school, he remembered something Spencer had said before.

"_Toby, when I'm with you, things_ are_ easy. The rest of the world can get over it. I'd pick you over them any day."_

He hoped that still rung true, or that he could remind her of why she once said that.

It wasn't just Spencer's family's high expectations standing in their way, or his reputation, and obviously Alison wasn't a factor anymore. He had never wished ill of Alison, no matter what trouble she had caused, but he knew she hadn't exactly been a fan of the relationship. Especially seeing as she appeared to go out of her way to try to screw things up between them.

But they couldn't overcome all of this if Spencer refused to give him a second chance. First he had to earn back her trust. He still was trying to figure out how on earth he was going to do that.

Toby's heart seized up in pain when he saw that Spencer's blank staring at her lap had morphed into her hunched over sobbing. He knew the realization of losing her friend forever had finally caught up with her, and it took all of his willpower not to burst into the door and run upstairs to hold her.

He couldn't imagine how she had felt this past year. He knew Spencer was strong; but most of that was a façade, a habit of hiding her true feelings rather than not having them. He had seen her get her feelings hurt and try to mask it to appear like everything was fine like that day in the hall when Alison snapped at her. He had watched her break down when she found out the truth about him and Jenna. And tonight, outside her house, he watched her innocence finally be torn from her as she understood what it felt like to lose someone to a power you couldn't control.

Spencer didn't do well without control. And it broke his heart as he watched her run out of breath one floor up and choke on her tears of grief.

It was a very private moment to witness, and although his guilt told him he should leave quietly, his feet rooted him to the spot. He hadn't stopped thinking about her once this past year. He had found it in himself to believe that he and Spencer could work through anything together if they were given the chance. And with that belief, he fought through all those grueling months at reform school. Because he knew that it would be worth it in the end. Because Spencer was worth all of the pain and kicks and nights with no food and two minute showers where he didn't have enough time to rinse the soap out of his eyes.

Spencer was worth the world. And if it was the last thing he ever did, he was going to prove it to her.

Now he just had to figure out how.

* * *

Spencer had stared in the mirror for a long time that Saturday morning. It was a bright sunny day, but she was dressed in black from head to toe. Her face looked like it had never seen the light of day, or a wink of sleep, and she redid her hair at least three different times.

Nothing seemed quite right, but then why would it? She was attending her fifteen-year-old best friend's funeral today.

Her parents didn't say anything in the car, and Melissa was coming later on with Wren. They wanted to drive separately, because who doesn't want some lovey-dovey couple time before a funeral, right?

Spencer was grateful though. Melissa would probably only make things worse. Their fighting in the past year had only escalated and Spencer was pretty sure it would always be that way with them. She fought with Melissa more than she fought with Alison and _that_ was saying something.

At the church, Spencer dutifully headed up the stairs and spotted Emily and her mom walking up from the other way. They all sort of forced smiles and Spencer hugged Emily tightly to her, holding on for longer than she normally would have. She knew Emily had been the closest to Alison out of all of them, or at least she worshipped her the most, but Spencer was also hugging her because she was the first person that could really understand the hollowness that was radiating in her chest. Other people had been nice and said kind words, but it was all empty. Those that really knew Alison, all sides of her, were Emily, Hanna, and Aria, and they were the only ones that would really understand how terrible a loss this really was.

Spencer hugged Pam Fields too, and realized that Emily's dad must still be away on leave. It really hit home how little she knew now about Emily's life that she wasn't even aware if her dad was in the same country as them or not. That was just such a simple thing to know.

As soon as Emily finished hugging Spencer's parents, she linked arms with her, not wanting to let Spencer get far. Spencer was more than grateful for the added support.

They met Mrs. DiLaurentis along the way up the aisle of the church. She hugged each of them and explained that she would love if they sat in the front row since that's what Alison would have wanted.

Emily slid in first, Spencer following, and they both stood to hug Hanna when she joined them a few minutes later. They all were silent, but it wasn't like the silence that had been between them the past year. They all understand that they were just lost in their own thoughts and that there really wasn't anything to say now.

Aria got to the end of the aisle and was staring at the gleaming coffin like it was a car accident that you couldn't look away from despite the horror. Hanna reached out to squeeze her hand and she finally seemed to realize that they were all there and where she was.

Sitting next to Hanna at the end of the row, her eyes swerved over to Alison's picture next to the black box.

"Poor Ali." Emily said, also lost in gazing at the happy girl in the picture.

Hanna almost laughed, but it was probably to avoid crying. "Can you believe what a scene this is?"

"Alison would have loved it." Aria agreed.

"Popular in life, and death." Spencer mused morbidly.

Hanna looked over to see Emily was either on the verge of breaking down or throwing up. She looked more than defeated. She wouldn't make it through the first half at this rate.

Unzipping her clutch, Hanna pulled out a flask and passed it down the row.

"No thanks, I don't-"

"Today, I think you do." Hanna told her seriously.

Emily must have agreed since she swigged it back.

Spencer rolled her eyes at the fact that Hanna would bring a flask to a funeral. She had always been the best at stealing liquor though, so she shouldn't have been surprised.

Aria's phone suddenly beeped and they all tensed.

"Anyone we know?" Hanna asked urgently.

Aria shook her head. "Nah, it's just my mom sending me a text…"

She looked across the row at the three girls and realized something.

"Emily and I aren't the only ones who got messages from A, are we?"

The four looked around in shock at each other, clearly more confused than ever on who had been sending these. Alison was in a coffin in front of them and she was the only one who knew their secrets. And why were all four of them getting them?

Whispering behind them caught Spencer's attention and she swiveled her head to see two new guests arriving late. The sight of the pair caused her lungs to nearly collapse.

"Oh my god… it's Jenna… and Toby…"

She could barely get the words out. She was too shocked.

But there was Toby leading a blind Jenna Marshall into the church. She hadn't seen him since that night, but his face had always surfaced in her mind during those lonely or tough nights when she felt more alone than ever.

Toby caught her eye, locking his gaze with hers for a long moment, before he helped guide his step-sister into the pew.

The DiLaurentis' came and sat next to them, Mrs. DiLaurentis turning to them in surprise.

"Is that Jenna Marshall I saw? I didn't know she and Ali were friends."

"They weren't." Spencer cut in unhelpfully, still trying to process what all of this meant.

Jenna was back? What did this mean? Did she know the truth?

And what in the world was Toby doing here?

And even more so, who in the world was sending these –A texts?

* * *

After the funeral and more sympathetic hugs and words, the four girls exited the church arm-in-arm. Their own mourning and heavy hearts were interrupted by a sandy-colored haired man approaching them.

"Emily, Spencer, Aria, and Hanna." the man said slowly, looking at each of them in time with their name.

"Do we know you?" the swimmer of the group asked.

"I'm Detective Wilden. I understand you all were good friends with the victim." he said, pulling out his business card and handing it over to Spencer.

"Yeah, we _were_." Emily said pointedly.

"I'm going to need talk to each one of you."

"We talked to the police when Alison went missing." Spencer explained.

"And I intend to go over each and every one of your statements since this is no longer a missing person's investigation—it's a murder." he said with an air of threat. "And rest assured I will find out what happened last summer."

He walked away after that. Was he… he sounded as though he was implying he knew they were hiding The Jenna Thing. In perfect timing, they spotted Toby helped Jenna into a car, glancing over at them before averting his eyes and following her inside.

Aria looked terribly worried as she grabbed at their hands so they turned their backs to him. "Do you think he knows about…?"

"No, how could he?" Hanna demanded.

A chill ran up each of the girls' spines as all of their phones began going off at the same time. Feeling sick, Spencer pulled out her phone and stared at the luminous message.

"Oh my god." Aria breathed.

"It's from-" Hanna stammered.

"I got one too." Emily interrupted.

"_I'm still here, bitches_…" Spencer read.

They all finished it in unison. "…_And I know everything. –A_."

It suddenly became harder to breathe. Who could this be? How much did they know?

It was clear that even though they just buried their best friend moments before, this was all far from over.

And it was not going to be good.


	10. Chapter 10

Sorry for the wait. School is insane right now. I don't even see the light of day anymore.

I promise things will pick up more next chapter. Right now I'm still trying to fill in the details to build up things for later, so please forgive the unoriginality. One of my favourite things about writing this story is getting to experience everything from purely Spencer or Toby's side of things, so I realize a lot of this dialogue is borrowed from the show, but it's the thoughts behind it that make it my own. So hopefully you guys enjoy that too :)

As I said, next chapter will begin a bit more of the drama if you all know what happens in the next episode on the show ;)

For those that don't like Wrencer, I'm sorry. But Wren is part of Spoby's story, so he will be in this story. I am a hardcore Spoby shipper, so have faith.

I love you guys so much. Thank you for your patience and dedication to this story and especially those that give me feedback! You're awesome!

**I do not own Pretty Little Liars.**

* * *

The four girls left the funeral together and decided to grab something to eat at the Apple Rose Grille, one of Rosewood's best restaurants and their old go-to spot. It felt fitting that they all spend some time as a group after burying the best friend that brought them all together.

Plus they had a lot to discuss…

"Why was Jenna there?" Aria demanded.

She leaned in to the table and tried to continue keeping their conversation restricted to just the four of them despite the other inhabitants of the restaurant.

"I guess she's back." Spencer suggested, gripping her mug tightly between her hands.

"That cop thought we were suspects or something." Hanna inputted, remembering Wilden and his sneering tone of distaste.

Emily immediately jumped on defense. "Do you think we looked guilty?"

"Why would we? We haven't done anything wrong." Aria said.

"Except lie about The Jenna Thing." Hanna reminded everybody, as if they really needed it.

Spencer lowered her voice. "We promised we'd never bring up The Jenna Thing again, remember? It never happened."

The smallest brunette piped up oversensitively. "Have you found a way to forget?! I still wake up sometimes in the middle of the night–"

"Aria, it was an accident!" Spencer cut in sharply.

The four of them went quiet for a moment, thinking back to that summer night. So much poison had come from that one mistake.

Hanna dug through her bag for her silver flask. Popping it open, she poured the rest of it into her iced tea.

A man at the back table watched her warily.

She straightened up and caught his gaze. "It's medicinal…" she told him fake-sweetly. The man didn't look convinced. "_Cramps_." she said with more edge, and he finally turned away.

"I don't get it. How does –A know something about me that only Alison knew?" Emily continued.

"Ali knew all of our secrets, but… we never knew any of hers." Aria realized slowly.

"I knew some." Spencer commented.

The other three looked intrigued, but Spencer didn't say anything more.

"Go on." Aria urged.

Spencer remained silent, but Hanna wasn't having any of that. "_Talk_."

"I can't." she replied quietly.

"Spence, no, you are not going to drop a bomb like that and just clam up!" Aria exclaimed.

"She'd _so_ kill me if I told you." Spencer retorted.

"She's DEAD." Hanna said bluntly, shutting them all up and casting a wary glance to Emily who looked pretty upset by the reminder.

Spencer inhaled. "Alison was seeing someone that summer."

"I knew she was keeping something from me! …from us." Emily tacked on quickly at the end.

Aria found the new piece of information odd. "Well why didn't she want us to know?"

"He was an older boy. And he had a girlfriend." Spencer explained, her irritation still heavily present in her voice and clearly not just from the badgering of her old friends.

Alison had given her such a hard time about Ian being Melissa's boyfriend when they exchanged one tiny kiss and then Ali herself had probably shared countless with this older boy of hers.

"What was his name?" Hanna asked.

"She never told me."

"That's only _half_ a secret." the blonde retorted.

Spencer scowled at her. "It's more than you ever got from her!"

"How did Ali tell us nothing and we told her everything?" Aria asked, ignoring the pair and changing the subject. She knew how much attitude Hanna had and how getting in an argument with Spencer was basically suicide. She was not in the mood to mediate like she used to.

Emily had the answer this time. "Because she made us feel like we were a part of something special."

"We _were_." Hanna said, warmth seeping into her voice.

Aria smiled. "I miss that."

"Me too." Spencer admitted.

"I miss Ali." Emily added softly, twisting her name bracelet around her wrist as she thought about the girl from their past.

"I can't believe you still wear that." Hanna commented, a little rudely, referring to the purple band with 'Emily' stitched into it.

"Ali still wears hers… _wore_…" Emily corrected herself again. It was easy to tell the past tenses were hard on her, but she still forced herself through them. They were the truth now.

Alison had one day, in that very restaurant, handed out little fabric pouches for each of them to open. Inside were friendship bracelets—purple fabric bands with each of their names stitched across them and a little silver clasp to hold them together.

Spencer sighed. "When Ali didn't come home that night, I knew something terrible must have happened. But there was always some part of me that imagined that someday she'd just show up."

"Yeah, I used to think that maybe she'd just run off with some guy." Aria added, a hint of her smile on her lips. It was so Ali.

"Or she was laying on a beach somewhere." Emily chimed in.

"Or getting a tan up by the pool with that hot lifeguard." Hanna said with a grin.

Aria scoffed amusedly, remembering the attractive guy they all swooned over. "Yeah, what was his name?"

"Who cares?! _Save me_!" Hanna mimicked, cracking up at the end.

The four of them laughed together, for the first time in a long time.

Unfortunately, it was short-lived since a distinct tapping came from the newly opened door of the restaurant.

The periodic clicks led Jenna Marshall to a seat by the window, which, considering her lack of eyesight, seemed pretty pointless.

The girls glanced between each other, Jenna's back to them, and, as quietly as they could, stood and exited the restaurant.

Once outside, they broke off into all different directions, suddenly feeling nervous and anxious. Despite Jenna's big sunglasses cluing them in that she hadn't gained her sight back in the past year, they suddenly felt as though they were being watched. And with the recent –A texts, it felt pretty justified.

* * *

Spencer had finished talking to her Russian History teacher and headed into the hallway when she heard her name over the PA system, along with her three best friends.

Well, she wasn't sure if she could even classify them as that, at least not yet, but they certainly were getting back into their old groove pretty well considering their leader was six feet under.

There was no doubt that their summoning to the principal's office had something to do with that girl too. Especially with the text Aria got as the four of them started towards the front office of the school.

"_Dead girls walking…_" the brunette scoffed at the words displayed on her phone.

And lo and behold, Wilden was waiting for them, with more patronizing questions about the night of Alison's disappearance. It was clear from the way he was interrogating them, although he assured them it was just a routine follow-up, that he knew they were hiding something, but they weren't about to spill their entire life story to him. They answered the questions he asked as precisely as they could, but anyone could see his disbelief of their honesty.

Finally, he released them and they joined the rest of the school in the cafeteria for lunch now that they had missed fourth period.

Seating themselves at a table in the middle of the cafeteria seemed like a stupid place to have a conversation, but, as usual, they tried to keep their voices low. The buzz in the public school was drowning them out regardless.

"He knows we're lying." Aria said seriously.

Hanna rolled her eyes. "Lying is not a crime."

"It is when you're giving false statements to the police. It's called obstruction of justice." Spencer corrected crankily.

"Oh please, we lied about drinking! The truth that matters is that we don't know anything about what happened to Ali that night." Hanna explained.

"We _also_ know about someone who might have wanted to hurt her." the argumentative one of the group added.

Emily looked rightfully troubled, thinking back to that summer night. "We should've told the police the truth about Jenna's accident the night it happened."

"I wanted to. Remember?" Hanna butted in unhelpfully.

"We had a chance to do more than just tell the truth—we had a chance to _stop_ Ali." Aria inputted.

Spencer was tired of this. It wasn't helping to dwell on the past now. "But we didn't. And telling the police now isn't going to make her see again… It would just ruin our lives."

The other girls fell silent, knowing she was right. As horrific as what they had all been a part of was, there was no turning back now. Jenna had lost her sight, probably forever, and Toby had paid for the crime. Telling the police now wouldn't change that awful deed; it would just ruin their lives in even worse ways. All that was wrapped up in that event, letting Toby take the fall as well as taking so long to come clean, would end up with a worse punishment. Not to mention they'd probably be considered more promising suspects of Alison's murder since they'd look to have a violent streak.

A tapping pulled the girls out of their thoughts.

"Oh my god, she's back in school too?" Hanna burst out, barely keeping her voice down.

A guy nearly bumped into Jenna and she stopped to regain her balance, trying to keep her face neutral but was obviously bothered by the rude encounter.

Aria glanced at the other girls before leaping up from her seat and approaching the sunglasses-donned brunette. "Jenna? Hey, it's Aria. Do you … want to come sit with us?" she asked, looking back to the others as she worded the question.

Spencer and the other two sent her a look like are-you-absolutely-insane, but the damage was done.

"Sure." Jenna said, smiling uneasily.

She placed a hand on Aria's shoulder and Aria slowly led her around the table to Hanna and Emily's side.

"Okay… So you're going to be between Hanna and Emily, and Spencer is right across from you."

"Thank you." Jenna replied as she stood where Aria left her.

"Oh, and here's a chair." she added quickly, stealing one from the adjacent table.

Jenna found her seat as the other four stood stalk still in theirs.

"So… this would be Alison's chair, right?" she asked with a sly grin.

"No. We're not even sitting at that table." Emily said sharply.

Spencer was rather surprised at her hostility, but she knew Emily was on edge. The four of them still had no idea if Jenna knew they were responsible or not for her life of darkness.

"You know, she came to visit me at the hospital after the accident." Jenna said conversationally.

That sparked the curious Hastings' attention. "_Alison_ did?"

Jenna nodded. "Mhmm." She smiled in that same sly way as she always had. "Everyone misunderstood Alison, but I knew exactly who she was."

Spencer's jaw set. She knew the two of them had a rivalry, and that what Ali and they had done to Jenna had been horrible however accidental, but Spencer hadn't forgotten who Jenna was either. She hadn't forgotten what she had done to Toby. And whether Toby loved her or not, she would still never forgive this bitch for torturing him the way she did.

She wondered how long Toby had been trapped with her again.

"When did you get back, Jenna? We heard you were in Philadelphia at a school for the … visually impaired." She struggled to find the description, not liking the harshness of claiming her as blind.

"You can say blind, Spencer. It's okay. It's not a dirty word."

Jenna's sweet tone was throwing her off, and she forgot where she was going with it. She didn't want to bring up Toby in front of the other girls, especially considering the fact that the other three had no idea what Jenna had done to him. And she wasn't about to tell them his business in front of her.

The rest remained quiet, until Jenna broke the silence by pointing it out.

"Wow. It's so quiet. You guys used to be the fun table. What happened to you girls?" she teased, laughing at her own little joke.

Looking around, Spencer realized they all were lost in the memory of July 4th of the year previous. It had been one that would haunt them for the rest of their lives.

Suddenly, distinct ringing and buzzing came from the four cell phones sitting on their trays. A simultaneous text could only mean one thing.

They quickly glanced at each other as the noises continued in notification of the incoming message.

Jenna reached out and felt around for Spencer's phone, lifting it up in front of her. "Aren't you going to get that?" she asked.

Despite the sunglasses and the medical record suggesting otherwise, Spencer felt as though she could see right through her.

Looking down, Spencer read the message with dread.

_If only she could see how guilty you look… –A_

The expressions the other girls shared made it clear they had gotten the same message.

So they had been right. A did know about The Jenna Thing. This couldn't be good.

* * *

The rest of lunch was almost more awkward than the beginning, but they all survived. Hanna was the first to jet away from the table, followed quickly by Emily and Aria.

But Spencer held back, having a feeling Jenna wanted to say something to her. There was no mistaking that smirk of hers.

"So I heard you and Toby are over." Jenna commented as the cafeteria emptied.

Spencer felt a familiar twinge in her heart at the reminder. "You heard correctly."

"So that explains why you haven't seen him."

"I haven't spoken to him in over a year, Jenna. You don't have to worry about me and him dating."

Jenna smirked and stood to walk away.

But Spencer crossed the room and blocked her path, Jenna backing up in surprise at the sudden breath on her face. Spencer leaned into her personal bubble and went close to her ear.

"But if I hear of you hurting him like I know you did before, him being in my life or not, I will find a way to make you pay for what you did."

Jenna exhaled slowly. "Oh, but I already am, _aren't I_?" she retorted pointedly, unbending her stick and stalking away.

Spencer watched her go, realizing that A wasn't the only one aware of who had caused Jenna's accident.

And having someone like Jenna Marshall as an enemy… well A wasn't the only cause of worry now.

* * *

Family dinners were never really Spencer's idea of fun.

But here she was, sitting across from her dad at the Apple Rose Grille, waiting for Melissa and Wren to arrive before they ordered.

It had been a strange day, especially after the questioning from Wilden and the awkward run-in with Jenna, and finishing it off with a dinner with her insane family? Not exactly high on her wish list at the moment.

Trying to pass the time and the silence, Spencer flipped through décor magazines, thinking longingly of the barn she was supposed to be living in this year. She could really use her own space right about now.

Her father was deeply engrossed in his Blackberry as always, but still Spencer tried to start a conversation.

"I've decided on the class I want to take at Hollis. But it's not for credit, Dad, it's for fun." she explained enthusiastically.

"What's the point of that?" he asked with a bit of a sneer. He brightened when he read his next email. "Hey, your mom is coming back a day early. She'll be home tomorrow."

Spencer resisted the urge to roll her eyes, but spotted Aria entering the Grille and slipped away to greet her and escape from the awkwardness.

"Hey." Aria said as soon as she saw her, smiling.

"Hey… I was going to email you when I got home. How weird was that lunch?" Spencer asked in an undertone, referring to having Jenna sitting across from her while they attempted to enjoy a meal.

The shorter girl grimaced. "On a scale of one to ten… _eleven_."

Spencer hummed her agreement. She was distracted from answering when Wren and Melissa entered the restaurant. Wren flashed her a smile while Melissa kept walking without even offering her a glance.

Spencer couldn't help but smile back at him, her cheeks reddening slightly.

Aria didn't appear to notice anything out of the ordinary. "Oh is that the new fiancé? Is he as uptight as Melissa?"

Spencer sent her a look. "_No one_ is as uptight as Melissa…" she commented, causing Aria to laugh.

Now that the table was full, Spencer figured she should probably return to her doom.

"I better get back."

"Bye." Aria replied, accepting her take-out from the cashier and heading out of the door.

Spencer was arriving back at the table when the waiter approached.

"Can I get anyone a drink?"

She slid into the booth next to Wren, raising her voice to be heard. "I'll have a vodka soda!"

"She's kidding." Melissa said quickly to the nervous waiter, sending Spencer an annoyed look.

Mr. Hastings jumped in with his order. "I'm going to have a glass of the house cab."

"Um, the same as my father."

"Yeah, I actually _will_ have a vodka soda…"

Wren met Spencer's eyes, his twinkling, and she had to look away to avoid blushing.

Although Spencer had half-hoped that she had been wrong and that she had been imagining Wren's end of it, she was starting to believe that something really was transpiring between them…

Their drinks were delivered to them promptly before too much small talk could clutter up the conversation. Everyone took their first sip, the quietness falling over them once more.

Sensing an opportunity, Melissa piped up brightly. "High low anyone?"

"High low?" Wren asked in confusion.

"It's a game. You guys don't play it in bed?" she muttered, but unfortunately, both her father and sister heard and they sent her a scolding look.

Her father, used to being a mediator, kept his cool. "Wren, you can play too."

"I'm a bit lost." the British man admitted.

"You'll catch on." Peter reassured him.

Melissa beamed, straightening in her chair like an overeager student with her hand raised and a perfect answer on the tip of her tongue. "I'll go first. We just started our first week of classes and I've _already _been nominated to serve on the business school's leadership committee."

Spencer felt Wren's hand nudge hers and noticed that he had placed his vodka soda between them. He was smiling broadly at the sight of the two across from him, but she could tell he wasn't as engaged as he was trying to let on.

Understanding what he was doing, Spencer followed his lead as her father replied to her sister, casually bringing the alcoholic beverage to her lips.

"Melissa likes to play the game when she's fairly certain she'll win." their father explained amusedly.

"Well guess who I learned that from?" Melissa teased, her usual buttery voice lathering it on thick.

Spencer placed the glass back down after a decent gulp, appreciating the burn that rolled down her throat.

"Yes, well don't go tasting victory just yet. Because the judge ruled on my brief today. The class action suit against Winslow has been dismissed."

Melissa hummed in obvious impressiveness, like the suck-up she was.

Wren leaned closer to the youngest Hastings. "If I don't play, do I still get another drink?"

"_No_." she teased, chuckling a little as he locked eyes with her.

Her dad interrupted. "Spencer, you're up."

Crap. She forgot about the fact that she'd need to come up with an answer. "Oh… um…"

Spencer racked her brain for anything of value that happened that day. Flirting with her sister's fiancé? That was out. Sneaking bits of vodka soda, nope. Continuing to hide the fact that she helped blind a girl was definitely not a valid candidate. What could she have done today that even qualified?

"I'll go!" Wren blurted out, rescuing Spencer, his usual boyish smile in place as she sent him a grateful smile. "I got a brilliant parking spot today. _Right_ in front of the chem lab."

Spencer met his gaze and they both cracked up, while Mr. Hastings looked only politely amused.

"He's just kidding." Melissa quickly reassured her father, who simply smiled in return.

The dinner conversation changed, but not by much, as it was mostly Melissa boasting about her recent accomplishments.

It wasn't as painful as a regular family dinner though, because for once in her life, Spencer realized she had an ally. She wasn't the only one who wasn't fitting in with this family. She had a feeling that Wren could if he tried, but she was more than grateful that he was on her side.

And that smile of his wasn't hurting either.

* * *

It was another twenty-four hours before Spencer saw Wren again. She was studying on her bed, her feet hanging off the edge so her shoes didn't dirty the comforter. She was twiddling her pencil in her fingers as she tried to remember the terms.

She unconsciously reached up with her free hand to rub her opposing shoulder.

"Still having trouble with that bursa sac?" a familiar accented voice came, and she swerved her head to see Wren leaning against her door jamb.

She chuckled before turning back to her work. "I can't take you seriously when you say bursa sac."

Wren put down the laundry basket that he had been holding. "Should I give you another rub?"

Just the thought of his hands on her again, that craving she had felt around him, made her answer quicker than she meant to. "No…" She smiled. "It's okay."

"Yeah, it's late." he agreed as if that was her reason.

"Well it's early for me." she said dryly, turning over so she was sitting facing him now. "I have a history test on Monday and a paper due in Latin."

An amused look came over his face as he racked his brain for something. "Ascendit tua?"

"Do you know what you just said to me?" she asked, trying not to laugh, assuming he had mixed it up.

"I think so… 'Up yours'?" he taunted.

She cracked up. "Yeah… okay…"

He was something else. It was one of the things she liked about him though; he certainly knew how to lighten her mood.

"Yeah, it's the only Latin I remember… can I help with anything?"

Spencer got up to cross the room. Somehow, he kept coming closer and it only made her want to close the distance between them more. She took her book with her across to her desk by the window. "What, with your extensive knowledge of the language?" she teased, trying not to look as though she was bothered by his presence, but also needing the space.

He was quiet as he watched her sift through the pages for the moment, and when he spoke, his teasing tone was replaced with seriousness.

"I've never had a family like yours, so I don't know that kind of pressure, but I imagine it can be unbearable at times."

Spencer offered him a small smile, glancing up from her researching. "Well you're not exactly a slouch, Mr. _Oxford_. I mean, that drive had to come from somewhere."

"Yeah, from me. My life has been _my_ choice." he explained, knowing the concept wasn't exactly one she was familiar with.

His understanding of what was bothering her left her feeling a little emotional. It reminded her of how easily Toby used to be able to read her. Which only made her hate herself more for not forgetting him yet. She hated that she still thought about him so much.

"Well you're lucky." she responded, forcing another smile, trying to push the gravelly drone out of her voice. Thinking about Toby in front of anyone was a bad idea.

Wren seemed to pick up on her change of mood. "I'm sorry, I'm being intrusive."

His politeness only made her want to cry more. "No, you're being nice." she reassured him, certain that the tears had now reached her eyes. She quickly looked back down to the text in her hands, embarrassed at her emotional reaction but not ready to shoo him away.

The British man approached her. She thought he was going to do something like hug her when he suddenly picked up a book off the desk behind her. He flipped to a page to show her something. "Gehry said that the "hat trick" chair was inspired by an apple crate."

"I didn't realize you were interested in design." she said, impressed, remembering the image from all the times she had flipped through it in search of inspiration for her barn redesign.

"I appreciate beauty." Wren said pointedly, his eyes glued to her face.

Spencer was suddenly aware of how close they were and that she could feel his body heat seeping into hers again.

Somehow she forgot about the window that was showing anyone below a clear view of them, as well as the bedroom door that was wide open.

She chanced a look at his eyes, wondering what was on his mind, but there was no question about it when she saw his irises trained on her mouth.

Before she could protest, his lips had crashed against hers and she found herself kissing him back eagerly.

It had been so long since she had been kissed. The last guy to have his lips on hers had been Toby, which only brought another waterfall of feelings. Thinking of him, Spencer only kissed Wren more enthusiastically, wanting to push out all of those memories and create new ones.

His hands had found her waist and pressed her against the wall, his mouth tumbling over hers like a rogue wave, and she couldn't help but get lost in the sea for the moment.

But what she was doing suddenly caught up with her and she pushed him away with difficulty, his lips still trying to seek out hers as she tried to put space between them.

"Stop, stop, we can't. Um you can't do this. It's not right." she told him, meeting his eyes finally.

The look on his face was unreadable but he had slipped away before she could say anything more.

Spencer sighed, leaning her weight onto the desk as she ran a hand through her hair.

The truth was, when she said it wasn't right, she wasn't just talking about Melissa. Kissing Wren… the man himself wasn't her true motivation behind the kiss, and it wasn't fair that she treat him that way. Wren didn't deserve it, Melissa or not. And Spencer knew full well if she could choose between kissing Wren and kissing Toby, she'd be going with the latter. Toby still owned her heart, whether she wanted him to or not.

She went back to sit on her bed, closing the bedroom door first, and wondered what the hell she had gotten herself into.

* * *

It was getting late, but she had to get out of the house. She should probably talk to Wren, but no doubt he was in the barn with Melissa and now _definitely_ wasn't the time to interrupt.

Spencer snuck out of the side door and kept her eyes on the barn as she rushed off towards the sidewalk.

However, before she could make it there, she ran into something solid.

Nearly losing her footing, she pushed her hair off her face and finally caught sight of what was blocking her path.

"T-Toby?" she asked in surprise. She hadn't seen or spoken to him since the night Alison went missing.

But just like then, his expression was anything but pleased.


	11. Chapter 11

_SO sorry for the long wait. Not sure how many of you noticed, but I went on hiatus for the past two and a half months. I just needed some time to write out several chapters of BIAB to make sure all the pieces fit together. Making the change by having Spencer and Toby get together BEFORE everything ended up making a lot more work for me than I originally planned haha so I had to take some time to write out the more complicated chapters to make sure I didn't have a detail out of place._

_I'm crossing my fingers that now that I am ahead that I'm all set! Since you guys have been so patient and I HAVE taken this time, you'll be getting a few updates this week :) Cannot thank you guys enough for your loyalty, patience and sweetness. I really appreciate the support I've gotten over this decision._

_As always, I borrow scenes/dialogue from the show since I want this story to blend as seamlessly as it can with the show to the best of my ability :) I know it bothers some of you, but this chapter and onwards get A LOT more original, I promise! Things will pick up very very soon.  
_

_Also, a line Spencer says is actually mostly stolen from the Suits season 2 finale. Not completely word for word, but I don't want to take ownership over something that wasn't really all mine._

_Reviews are love!_

**I do not own Pretty Little Liars.**

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Spencer asked, trying to find the words. She hadn't seen Toby in over a year, since the night Alison went missing when he essentially told her that he wanted nothing to do with her, not then and not ever, which only made it more surreal to see him there now.

Toby's expression was stony as he made to walk away. It felt all too familiar with that last night they had spoken. He was trying to walk away, but she kept asking him questions. His manners would always prevail.

He swiveled his head to look back at her. "I was coming to see you. But you seem pretty preoccupied." he said coldly.

Spencer finally clued in that he was pissed at her. For what, though, she wasn't sure.

"I'm… what are you talking about?" she asked.

"Nothing. Bye, Spencer."

"No, Toby, wait! Please. Can we talk?" she begged.

"I'm sure you'd rather talk to your sister's fiancé, wouldn't you?" he countered, and she caught on that he had seen what had happened.

But that didn't make her understand any better. Her first instinct was that he could be jealous, but why would he be jealous if he wanted nothing to do with her?

"Were you… were you spying on me?"

He rolled his eyes. "You were going at each other right next to a window. It wasn't like I was peeping in from a tree with binoculars."

Spencer felt a douse of déjà vu, thinking back to the night of The Jenna Thing. She had doubted that Toby had been spying on them, but now, with this information, she wasn't so sure. Maybe Alison _had_ been right…

"Do you make it a habit to watch people through their windows?" Spencer said in annoyance, crossing her arms.

"Do you make it a habit to make out with guys that are way too old for you? When I told you to move on, I had hoped you would go for someone around your age…" he began to say, but he had hit a nerve.

Spencer shook her head to shut him up, her anger growing from her toes and rising all the way to her face like some sort of out of control thermometer.

"You can stop right there. Did you hear what you just said—when YOU told me to move on. _You_ said to find someone else. _You_ told me to forget about you, forget about what you and I had. _You_ don't have a right to stand here and judge me for MY decisions when you cut me from your life last year. You made it perfectly clear how you feel about me."

Toby's jaw set. "Spencer-"

"NO! You lost your right the night you broke my heart. You don't get to waltz back in a year later and act like you have a right to an opinion on the life I've learned to live without you _just_ because you saw me with someone else."

"You're right; you're free to be with whoever you want." he replied; although, the fact that he looked like he wanted to punch something wasn't helping his case much.

She sent him a look. "Oh, yeah, that's coming off loud and clear based on your current attitude."

"Well my opinion clearly doesn't matter, but what about your family's? I doubt they would be the happiest with your decision… I mean, is that not your sister's fiancé?" he retorted, eyebrows rising in challenge.

Spencer was too mad to even wonder how he knew that. "First of all, don't talk about my family. You don't know them."

"Well that's probably because I'm not some fancy doctor. They never would have approved me, right? But that guy you were macking on seems to fit the Hastings image perfectly."

Spencer could have thrown something at him. "Seriously!? Don't even try to make this about you." She didn't even realize she was beginning to pace in front of him. "You know full well that you were my first choice last year. It was YOU who ended things for good."

Toby stepped forward angrily, the words Alison had engrained in his mind revolving around his head, fueling the insecurities he had always had. "And how long would we have lasted, Spencer? How long until you figured out that I would never fit into the life you had always dreamed of? The great Spencer Hastings, living a life without a plan? I can't imagine I'd ever see the day when you'd choose some lowlife carpenter over a high-class doctor…"

She had had enough. The clenched fist beside her was shaking, ready to slap him for his words. How dare he assume what would happen in the future when he had no idea.

"Will you STOP bringing Wren into this? I know that was a mistake. It just sort of happened, but YOU don't get to judge me for moving on when you were the one who forced me into it! You don't get to stand here and act like I'm not following the mapped out plan you've dreamt up because you clearly don't know me at all. And NEWSFLASH, I don't belong to you anymore, Toby."

"Were you ever really mine, Spencer?" he hissed, feeling the sting of her words. He knew his insecurities and pain was getting in the way of his proper judgment, but he couldn't stop pushing. Even this way, he was desperate to see more of her passion, the girl he had fallen in love with.

She had finally hit her breaking point. She raised her palm to slap him, but he caught her wrist in his hand, his reflexes much better since reform school. He backed her into the wall of the house roughly, and her breath caught.

But her fury was still consuming her so she wrenched her arm out of his hold, ignoring the sudden urge to kiss him passionately. No matter how angry she was, this was hot on some weird, hatefully-passionate level.

"How dare you! You know how much I cared about you!" she screeched at him. "You have no idea what I've been through in the last year, all that I have lost! Because it's EVERYTHING. Everyone I care about. You, Alison, my friends, and well, I never really had my family now, did I? And now I really will lose them because of some stupid mistake I made that YOU happened to witness. Can you just back off? I don't need this from you. I've been miserable since that night you shattered my heart and don't you dare think you can just come back here and act like I actually mattered to you."

"You DID." he argued, a flicker of emotion behind his eyes melting his angry expression.

She took a breath, eyes still blazing with fire, but her voice much steadier now. She attempted to calm down but her bottled up anger at him for the past year wasn't helping.

"Yeah, _past tense_." she countered with a scoff.

Toby stared her down, but couldn't find the words to muster up a response that. She had no idea how much he really cared, how much he still did and never would stop. Alison had never passed on the message of his feelings for her, and he knew now he had lost his chance.

Without another word, he turned on his heel and slipped away into the night.

Spencer felt the hot tears falling down her cheeks as she watched him go. Although she had thought nothing about getting rid of him, now that he was gone she wanted nothing more than for him to come back.

She was getting really sick of seeing him leave, but she knew she was just going to have to get used to it.

* * *

It wasn't the bird chirping that woke up Spencer the next morning. She heard the barn door close with a thump and rose out of bed to peek through her window. Looking down, she saw Wren with a box of his things in hand, heading towards his car.

Spencer sighed, leaning against her window sill, turning away from the scene.

Melissa and Wren had broken up, and she knew she was to blame.

If Melissa knew what had actually happened, she was in so much more trouble. But even if she didn't have a clue, Spencer hadn't wanted the pair of them to break up, no matter how bad she wanted to kiss Wren last night.

She contemplated running down to talk to him, ask him what happened, but she'd probably just make things worse, especially if Wren had broken up with Melissa to be with her.

But Spencer would never do that to her sister, no matter what she or Wren wanted. And truthfully, Spencer had no interest in dating Wren anyways. As upset as she was with Toby, seeing him last night had only set fire to her heart again. And where there's fire, there's passion. She knew her heart wasn't done with him, no matter how furious she was.

Spencer got ready for school, heading downstairs to grab a quick breakfast before heading out.

Unfortunately, Melissa was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, a look of guttural fury on her face.

There was no mistaking it. She _knew_.

* * *

"Melissa…"

"Don't even try to deny what you did! I saw you last night!" she shouted immediately.

Spencer knew this was going to get rapidly out of hand if she didn't say the right thing, but she had no idea what to do.

"I'm-I'm sorry, but-"

"Sorry for what? That you couldn't humiliate me more? My fiancé cheats on me with YOU? I've been telling everybody about this wedding and now I have to cancel it. Do you know how that makes me look?"

Leave it to Melissa to be more concerned with her social standing than the status of her heartbreak.

"You make me sick, Spencer. I don't know why you would ever do this to me. We may not get along, but I would never do this to you!"

Spencer knew that wasn't entirely true, especially if it got her more attention, but she wasn't about to point that out.

"How long has it been going on for?" she demanded.

Spencer finally was able to get a word in. "NOTHING is going on. It was just one time! And as soon as I realized what was happening, I stopped it. HE came on to ME."

Melissa laughed derisively. "You expect me to believe that?"

Spencer's eyes filled with tears. "Yes. Please, Melissa, I would never do that to you. I never wanted to hurt you-"

"Too late, Spencer. Way too late." she snarled, before storming out of the house, slamming the glass door hard behind her.

* * *

It didn't take long for Spencer's parents to find out the news that Spencer and Wren had been caught making out in her room. Both parents spent the entire car ride to school glaring at her through the rearview mirror, and it took all of Spencer's energy not to cry.

They too questioned why she had done what she had done, why she had wanted to hurt her sister in such a way, why she needed so much attention.

She had given up trying to explain her side of the story. She felt it was better to suffer in silence. They wouldn't believe anything she said anyways.

School of course dragged on. When it finally came to a close, Spencer slipped inside her house solely to change into leggings and a hoodie to go for a well-needed run.

Grabbing her orange iPod Shuffle, needing the music to block out the depressing thoughts in her head, she set off on her usual route.

Her mind was completely on the Melissa/Wren situation, and the fight she had last night with Toby, but she tried to focus on her music and the feel of the pavement beating against her feet.

Just as Sweet 17 was pumping her up with their song _Supabeat_, she rounded the corner and saw Jenna Marshall sitting on one of the town's benches.

She slowed to a stop, pulling out her headphones as she saw Jenna typing on a tiny keyboard.

Her phone beeped a moment later and the sunglasses-wearing brunette put it to her ear.

"Send text now." she commanded.

Spencer stared, realizing that it _was_ possible that Jenna was –A. She knew she definitely had the motivation behind it, but Spencer didn't think she had the means because of her blindness.

Jenna must have sensed her in some way since she slowly began turning her head in Spencer's direction.

Placing her earbuds carefully back into her ears, Spencer bolted in the opposite direction. There was no way she was giving –A the idea that she was suspicious of their identity. And Jenna was too clever to not be able to figure out who was standing there for long.

Arriving home, Spencer was given the silent treatment from her entire family who were enjoying a meal together for once. There wasn't a place set for her, so she went upstairs to take a shower, fighting back tears and wondering whether things would ever be okay between her and her family again.

* * *

The next morning didn't bring much more optimism.

After the breakfast from hell in her kitchen in the place she used to call home, Spencer should've been grateful to get to school.

Spencer had come down to get her first meal of the day to find Melissa sulking in the kitchen while their mother lapped up all her whining and petted down her hair. Spencer hadn't been able to even breathe without Melissa having something to say, but as soon as Spencer started to say anything, nice or otherwise, she would be cut off by her mother. But Melissa had free reign to rip up her younger sister with no interference from the elder Hastings.

It was frustrating, since she understood that what had happened was wrong and that Melissa had every right to be upset, but it was like a mine field in that house now.

By the end of the one-sided, unfair fighting, Spencer swore things had only gotten worse between her and Melissa. She had refused to believe that Wren was the one to make the first move and essentially claimed her sister as dead to her.

Spencer couldn't find a reason to stick around, so she had headed to school only to be reminded of how much her school work had been taking a hit lately. She had completely procrastinated on an essay worth a big chunk of her class mark, and that was completely not like her.

She went to her locker after class, fighting back tears, knowing there was no way she could come up with quality work, especially with what she had to go home to.

Clicking open the lock, her books suddenly cascaded out of confinement and exploded across the linoleum. Crouching down, trying not to let her tears spill over, she tried to retrieve them and piled them in her arms.

A small brunette bent down to help her. "Russian History…? How many AP classes does it take before your brain explodes?" Aria teased, passing her the last textbook.

"I'm already drowning in there." she admitted quietly.

"Why, what's drowning for you, _B+_?"

Spencer shoved the last of her stuff back into the locker, not caring how organized it was. She just wanted to be done with it. "First paper's due Monday, and I've written two words—my name."

Aria finally clued in that something was up. "Well what's going on? Hey, you're not still freaked out about what happened in the woods yesterday, are you? You know, we do not have to do this thing for Ali until we figure out-"

"No it's not just that. It's… everything." she half-cried, pushing back the tears furiously. "Is there any chance that your family wants to adopt me?"

But Aria was saved from answering when two figures of their past rounded the corner.

She and Spencer stared at Jenna, her arm latched onto her dark-haired companion, no walking stick in sight.

Toby was back in school.

His eyes flickered to her for a moment, but he looked straight on after he passed the pair of them, leading Jenna carefully down the hall.

Spencer could see Emily and Maya approaching and picked up on their conversation a few feet away.

"Who's that?" Maya asked, seeing the sudden change in not just her friend but the entire hallway. She had caught the long stare he and Emily had exchanged before the guy disappeared.

"Toby Cavanaugh." Emily replied.

"Who's he?"

The swimmer squirmed uncomfortably. "He's uh… an older kid who used to go here. He got sent away to a… reform school or something."

"Why?" Her normal teasing tone was replaced with seriousness.

Knowing she had to, she tossed out the cover story. "He had uh … he set fire to a garage. His step-sister… she was in it."

Maya turned to look where the step-siblings had disappeared. "Should I be scared?"

Emily laughed nervously. "What? No."

Maya had definitely caught on to her uneasiness, but let it slide. She touched her arm briefly. "See you later."

"Bye." Emily said, joining Spencer and Aria as Hanna too approached.

Aria spoke in an undertone, but emotion left it almost near normal speaking volume. "He's back too?! When did that happen?"

"Maybe she needs help sending radioactive emails." Hanna said sarcastically.

"Yeah, or he may be sending a few of his own." Spencer inputted.

"Do you really think he would do that to you?" Emily asked, sounding surprised.

Spencer looked down in shame, adjusting her books in her arms.

"Wait, have you even talked to him since last summer?" Hanna pressed, raising her eyebrows.

"Yeah. We… sort of got into a fight the other night. Trust me when I say he's not a fan of me anymore."

Aria saw the pain in her friend's eyes and put a comforting hand on her forearm. "Spence, we all saw the way you two were together. He love-"

But Spencer cut her off. "Toby and I are over. There's nothing there. He hates me now, and by association, he hates all of you. We sent him to reform school for a year, remember?"

"WE didn't do anything. Ali did that. Why did Toby take the fall for us?"

Spencer was saved from answering, although she planned on keeping her mouth shut since she wanted to keep that fact to herself for as long as possible, when they were interrupted.

"Hanna."

A chill ran up each of their spines, even those whose name wasn't being called. It was like all the people that knew they weren't as innocent as they made themselves off to be were hanging around.

"They have cops on the campus too?" Aria whispered far too loudly, Detective Wilden in clear hearing distance.

"I just spoke with your principal. Asked him if we could have a chat."

Hanna flushed, immediately jumping on defense. "No. I've got to get to class."

"Don't worry, you've been excused. Let's go."

And with that, the thirty-something cop put his arm behind her waist and began directing her towards the office.

"What is going on? Why just her?" Aria demanded.

"He probably thinks she's the easiest to crack." Emily guessed.

Spencer looked at the two of them seriously. "She _is_."

Yet another sinister voice joined the mix. "Whisper, whisper, whisper. Almost feels like Alison's still here."

The three watched Jenna stroll past, their minds flashing back to that damned fire, and they wondered where Toby had disappeared to now that Jenna was clearly alone.

* * *

Spencer wasn't sure when she made the decision to talk to the last person she probably should be, but she found herself on the train to Philadelphia before she could really think about it. She had called him to set up a meeting and he had been more than happy to hear from her, which was such a nice change from the cold shoulder she had been receiving lately from anyone else who was aware of their situation.

The train ride had given Spencer enough time to go over what she planned on saying, but she forgot the most of it when she saw Wren's smile when he came out of his building with two coffee mugs in hand.

She accepted the white mug graciously.

"Did your sister send you here?" Wren asked as they sat on the stone steps.

Spencer nearly laughed. "God, no. She has no idea I even called you. Things were never great between us, but now it's like _The Hurt Locker_. It just gets worse every day." she admitted, the pain clear in her voice.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

Spencer decided it was best to change the subject. She could pity herself later. "So you're living here now?"

"Squatting. It's not exactly the Hastings manor, but I have a whole sofa to myself." Wren teased.

She tried to smile out of politeness, but she knew it came off fake. She got straight to the point. "Wren, I need your help."

"We only have the one sofa… can you sleep on a Ping-Pong table?" he joked.

Damn that smile for distracting her. "Look I uh… I need you to tell them what really happened."

His amused expression slipped away, realizing she needed him to be serious. "I tried. They won't return my phone calls."

Spencer sighed, placing her mug down as she turned towards him, not meaning to come off like she thought he was entirely to blame. "I know I'm not completely innocent in all this. I've done a lot of stuff I'm not proud of… but not that night. I never wanted you guys to break-up."

"I don't think it would matter what I said. I mean, once your parents decide what they're going to think of someone, it's a royal decree—you're brilliant, you're rubbish. There's very little in-between."

"Can you at least try my dad again?" She tried to keep the desperation out of her tone, but her tear ducts weren't exactly helping her case.

"Spencer, put your efforts elsewhere. My guess is your jail sentence will be commuted the moment you score a winning point or ace a test." he told her, his annoyance at her persistence beginning to shine through.

"This might not be that simple." she explained.

It was true. She had never been exiled as badly as she had been with this. And it's not as though she hadn't been up in arms with her family on any other issue in her life. But nothing compared to this new freezing out. The other times were like a nippy fall day rather than a fifty-below-zero billowing blizzard like it was now.

"Give it time. Look, I know I've made a bloody mess of things, and I'm sorry for putting you in the middle of it. But perhaps my real mistake was falling for the wrong sister."

Spencer couldn't help but blush under his intense gaze. She could see his hand inching to take hers, and she didn't want him to think he could kiss her again. She may have done some pretty self-destructive things lately, but this wasn't going to be another one of them.

She jumped to her feet, pulling her bag strap more securely over her shoulder.

"Um, I should go. It's a four o'clock train and I-I have this huge paper to write that's due Monday…"

"You gotta get back to that wretched place called home, right." he cut in unhelpfully, looking a little smug.

Spencer looked back desolately. She hated when people pointed out her shortcomings. His little comment only made her feel worse.

She continued walking, keeping her head down until she boarded the train.

After sitting down, she realized that she was in the very compartment she and Toby had ridden into town together in so many moons ago. They had headed into Philly for their touristy date, having an awesome afternoon together and finishing it off with meeting her friends before driving to the edge of town to stargaze and confide in each other.

They had shared so many laughs, so many secrets, and countless kisses then. She couldn't remember a time she had been happier.

Remembering the blissfulness she felt, the innocence she had back then, before everything went to hell… it was then that Spencer Hastings finally broke down and cried.

* * *

Hours later, Spencer finished packing up the leftover shrimp Alfredo fettuccine she had made and found a spot for it in the fridge. Yet another night where she was eating alone.

Her mom had left her a note explaining that she and Melissa were at the country club and her father was working late. She was grateful for the empty house though. It meant no snide comments from her sister, while her parents stayed silent until Spencer tried to defend herself.

Spencer hoped to get some work done on her essay, but all she could think about was how much of a mess her life was these days. Her attempt at getting help from Wren had fallen flat earlier, and then he basically said he wanted to be with her. She had rushed off to avoid answering the flattery, but now she wished she had been more firm about how they wouldn't be together. She wouldn't do that to Melissa. And even if she did, her parents would never approve her dating a mid-twenties British man, even if he _was_ a doctor-in-training.

The sixteen-year-old continued to stare desolately at her blank screen.

Melissa's laptop was booted up next to her on the counter, and she slyly pivoted it towards her. Remembering how much Melissa had boasted about her A+, even years ago, Spencer opened the essay in her sister's nicely organized folders on her desktop.

Double-clicking on the folder labeled 'Old Essays/Projects', Spencer located the familiar file. Seeing the one marked _Seeds of a Revolution_, Spencer stuck her USB drive into the side of the machine, copying it over. Transferring it to her laptop, she removed the stick and put the laptop back as she found it, opening the document on hers.

With a twinge of guilt, she changed the name to her own and the date to the current one.

Opening her email, she clicked on the message in her drafts folder to Mr. Sheldrake. She attached the file, but paused over the Send button.

_What are you doing, Spencer? This will only make things worse between you two. Do you really think she won't find out?_ that annoying voice in her head nagged.

She sighed, pushing her laptop away irritably. The essay was due tomorrow. She was screwed.

Just then, her mom and Melissa came through the side door into the kitchen.

Correcting her throat and trying to appear unsuspicious by half-closing her laptop, Spencer turned brightly to her family members. "Hey. Hi, how was the club?" she greeted friendly, hoping Melissa wouldn't be as apt to start a fight.

"Chilly. Nobody who works there can figure out a thermostat. Did you eat?" her mom asked.

She smiled. "Yeah, I made some pasta if you're hungry." She always was sure to make enough in case her dad came home late and needed something.

Melissa, unfortunately, did not see her extra food as courteous. As usual, she found something to rip Spencer up about. "I'm not eating pasta. I don't need to be depressed and _fat_." she spat pointedly.

Spencer bowed her head a little, her hand going to her stomach self-consciously.

Naturally, her mother immediately agreed. "Good point. I'll make a salad. Let me get out of these clothes."

And so the sisters were left alone. Spencer knew this wouldn't be good. She avoided Melissa's eyes.

"Wren called. He told me you went into the city earlier to meet him."

Spencer looked up hopefully. Maybe she had finally listened.

"It was strange… At first I wasn't sure _why _he was telling me this, but then I realized he's _still_ trying to cover his tracks and yours. Like I'm supposed to believe you took a train down there just to _clear your name_? You two deserve each other. I thought _I_ was pathetic."

She left for the barn after that, leaving Spencer fighting back tears.

They'd never mend what they had. There was no hope. She couldn't win. And why should she try so hard not to upset her sister, when her sister was going out of her way to hurt her?

Spencer opened her laptop back up and sent the essay across the internet with only the smallest feeling of guilt settling in her stomach.

She sighed and headed upstairs to get ready for Noel Kahn's party.


	12. Chapter 12

_Keep in mind that Spencer still doesn't know the real reason why Toby took the fall for The Jenna Thing and that the girls don't know him as well as she did. As always, lines are borrowed from the show as well as scenes although most from now on are tweaked in some way or another to fit the plot._

_Thank you for your feedback last chapter! Love you guys! Enjoy :) Don't be afraid to review, any feedback is good feedback to me!  
_

**I do not own Pretty Little Liars.**

* * *

Toby knew he had screwed up. And he knew getting into a fight with Spencer the other night hadn't helped his case any.

He hadn't meant to get so upset. But seeing her, tangled up with another guy and clearly enjoying herself, had hit him hard. She was right though. He had told her to move on, to find someone else, to forget about him. How was she to know, when he had told her he was done with her, that he would come back a year later desperate to win her affections again?

He thought, at the time of their finalizing break-up, that that would be what was best for her. Frankly it still was. But he also had come to realize that he couldn't live without her. He needed her. He loved her. And he wouldn't give her up so easily again.

Alison had manipulated him then, brought to life the insecurities he had already had. Upon getting to know Spencer, he knew she was too good for him. He knew she could find better. But she had chosen him. That's what he failed to remember. He knew Alison had been right when she claimed that Spencer was just blinded by love, but it _was_ love, and that's what mattered.

Seeing her in the hallway earlier brought back all of the memories from their first proper meeting. The way she had dove in and defended him against Noel Kahn, even though she had no affiliation with him. She just saw it as an injustice and wasn't afraid to stand up. He wished he had been strong enough to do that last summer. If he had, maybe he'd still have her.

But Toby shared one quality with her and that was stubbornness. He wasn't going to let her go easily. He knew he couldn't talk to Spencer right now, without another blow up, and she looked pretty upset in the hallway as it was. Her sister must have found out about her 'moment' with the fiancé. But maybe if he tried from an alternative route…

Remembering what Spencer had shared about her friends, and what he had noticed during his short period of time with them, Toby had contemplated who best to seek a listening ear.

Hanna was out, purely because she seemed to have adapted to Alison's absence and become the new her. She strutted the halls with her new waistline and fancy clothes, and frankly, he feared her now that she had become one of the queen bees. Not in the way he used to, when he was the underdog of the school, but he knew that one wrong move with her and he'd be out of the door for good.

Aria would be a good in, except he had heard through the grapevine that she had gone away from Rosewood for a year to live in Iceland. Although the girls were reunited now, it was obvious that she wouldn't be as intuitive to Spencer as she used to be. Add to that the fact that Spencer had once commented about how defensive Aria could be of her friends, and Toby figured he'd have another fight worthy of Spencer on his hands.

So that left Emily.

It worked in his favor, since that day he had seen her go off to swim practice. He really needed to get her alone so she would hear him out.

Glancing at his watch, he saw the minute hand closing on the ten. Swim practice had ended twenty minutes ago. She would probably be out of the locker room soon. He had seen the rest of the girls leave already.

Coming away from his spot around the corner, Toby began down the hall, but not before another dark-haired figure slipped into the open wall door.

He stopped in surprise. Who would be going in there?

Slowly, he got closer, stopping against the wall outside. He could hear Emily's voice.

"Hello? Hello? Anybody here? Hello?"

Suddenly she gasped, causing Toby to tense, but it was followed by a male laugh.

"Damn! You're jumpy." a voice teased.

Toby recognized it as Emily's boyfriend Ben's. He was surprised they were still together. They had been together before the summer where everything changed, and frankly, he didn't really see it.

"How did you get in here?" Emily wanted to know.

"Walked." Ben teased.

"Yeah, well, if somebody catches you..."

"I'll take my chances. Besides, we need some alone time." he flirted.

Toby was liking this guy less and less.

"_I_... need to get dressed." Emily argued gently.

The cockiness was shining full tilt through his tone. "Don't bother."

Toby was about to walk away, not wanting to eavesdrop on 'alone time' in a locker room sans clothing, when Emily spoke again, sounding stressed.

"I can't do this now. My mom's expecting me."

Her lack of enthusiasm for continuing whatever was going on in there was apparently unclear to her boyfriend.

"What's up, Em? Last week you were all over me in my car. This week I'm some marching band geek with funyun breath. What's going on?"

"Nothing. I've just... got a lot on my mind, okay?"

Toby may not lie much, but he could spot certainly spot one there. She was definitely holding back something.

"All right. Maybe you need to relax."

He could hear the sound of a body being pressed into a locker, kisses following.

"Ben, I can't do this right now." Emily repeated, her voice sounding much more stressed than before.

"What?" Ben asked, his voice muffled, and Toby was sure it was buried in Emily's caramel skin.

"Seriously, stop it. You're-you're acting strange…"

And that's when everything changed. He could hear her fighting him off now, but it seemed like Ben wasn't listening. "Ben, get off me! Get off! Stop it!"

At the sound of her tears and the desperate begging in her voice, Toby was moving before he could even contemplate what he was doing.

Sure enough, there was Ben, forcing her into the locker as his hands groped at her swimsuit clad body while she tried to push him away.

In a flash of adrenaline, Toby had ripped Ben away from her and sent him flying into the adjacent wall, releasing his reform-school-trained fists on his face.

He may not be with Spencer anymore, or been very close to her friends, but he would never let anything happen to anyone she cared about. That aside, he also wouldn't let anyone go through the torture that Jenna put him through on his watch. This hormonal tool of a guy was going to learn the lesson he hadn't been able to teach his step-sister. He may have been raised not to hit a girl, but sex-driven, arrogant assholes were another story.

Ben had thrown his elbow back, but Toby was too fast for him and both men scuffled. Toby was the clear winner though, managing to push Ben against the wall so his hands couldn't keep aiming for his face.

"That's enough! Okay? Stop!" Emily shouted, after she got over her initial shock.

Ben spoke through bloody teeth as he attempted, rather pathetically Toby had to admit, to fight back. "Is this creep a friend of yours? Is he the reason you're acting like this?"

Toby was grateful he got to see Emily's unimpressed face. It was pretty priceless. "Ben, get over yourself, okay?"

About time someone told him.

"Get over _myself_?" he spat back irritably.

"It's done. We're over." she told him seriously.

Toby finally let go of the wimp in his hands, watching Emily's face carefully. She didn't look too heartbroken, just pissed off.

Toby nodded slightly at her, encouraging her to get out of there. Now wasn't the time to talk to her, not about what he needed. She needed space, and he would respectfully give it to her. It was clear that, rescued or not, she was still pretty shaken up.

With a bit of a grateful smile at the hint of her lips, she grabbed her clothes and shut her locker quickly, rushing out of the locker room.

Ben finally moved away from Toby angrily, seeing that he was released.

"You better watch yourself, Cavanaugh. What are you trying to do, steal my girl?"

Toby shot him a look of disgust, shoving him against the wall again but not holding him there. "She's not yours. If I see you try anything like this again, I'll cut that thing off."

Ben swallowed. He didn't need to clarify what it was Toby was referring to.

Truth be told, Toby would never do any such thing, but he didn't need Ben to know that. He knew everyone had thought before he had gone away that he was a freak; he was sure it had only gotten worse since he'd been away at a school for delinquents.

Toby left Ben there, walking out and heading home, wondering how he was going to get Emily alone now.

* * *

Spencer was grateful that Aria was the first person she had run into at Noel's party. She had waved at a few of her friends from her various clubs, but she hadn't really been in the mood to stop and chat. What with everything that was going on with her family, she wasn't really in the small talk sort of temperament.

"Apparently Ben and Emily broke up today." Aria told her in an undertone as she passed over a cup of Sprite to her friend.

Spencer was a little disappointed that the drink wasn't spiked, but sipped it back anyways. Things had just been rough lately.

She suddenly remembered the sight of the bludgeoned boy's face. "Wait… did you see Ben earlier? He looks like he got in a brawl with a brick wall."

Aria nodded grimly. "Yeah. I don't think Em is going to come tonight."

But speak of the devil, the swimmer and Spencer's new neighbor had come to the backyard to get to the drinks, chatting animatedly. Maya was clearly sharing some story with Emily that was causing the other girl to laugh. She didn't look too broken up.

"Em!" Spencer called out to grab her attention.

Emily looked up and smiled, excusing herself from Maya and coming over to greet them. Maya was caught up talking to one of the girls Spencer knew to be in jazz band so they'd have some time to talk.

"Hey." she said once she had gotten within earshot, joining them on the wooden platform underneath the patio lanterns.

"Hey. How are you doing? We heard you and Ben broke up." Aria said sympathetically.

Emily tucked her hair behind her ears, her eyes suddenly interested in the wooden slats beneath her feet. "Uh… yeah. I'm okay."

"What happened to his face?" Spencer was too curious to keep her questions to herself.

"Um… someone kind of… attacked him. It's sort of why we broke up."

"Ben is getting into fights now? What a guy…" Spencer said irritably. Boys and their testosterone… she never understood why guys thought that throwing fists around meant they were more masculine when in fact it just showed that they didn't have the maturity capacity to handle discussing differing views like adults.

"No, um…" Emily inhaled. "Ben had surprised me by coming into the girls locker room."

"That's not allowed!" Spencer piped up automatically, then shut her mouth.

"I know. He thought it would be a chance for us to… get some alone time I guess. But I wasn't feeling the same. He um… tried to convince me otherwise."

It didn't take a genius to figure out what she was implying. She sounded so uncomfortable and she wouldn't look at either of them.

"Em…" Aria said, tucking some of her hair behind her ear maternally. "He tried to force himself on you?"

Emily nodded, and both of the other girls felt sick. They never thought Ben would do that, and never to innocent Emily.

"But he didn't get far. I told him to back off, but it was … _Toby_ that pushed him off of me and gave him his new facial features." Emily said slowly, not sure how Spencer would feel.

The girl in question went numb, her silence deafening to Emily, but Aria cut in first in shock. "He tackled Ben? What was Toby even doing in the girls' locker room?"

Spencer became very brazen at this reminder. He had been watching her through her window the other night with Wren; Alison claimed she saw him the night of The Jenna Thing… It was entirely possible that Toby hadn't learned his lesson and was seeking new targets… or old ones. It was no mystery that Emily was incredibly beautiful. But the thought of her ex-boyfriend creeping on her best friend? It made a prickly feeling surface on her skin all over. "Why are you shocked? Toby's a perv. We caught him peeping through the windows, watching us undress." she reminded them, the sharpness in her voice a little too strong for the conversation.

Emily, as always, saw right through her. She knew Spencer didn't really feel like Toby was the one doing that. She had defended him plenty the night of The Jenna Thing, and knew him better than all of them combined. Even in Emily's short time getting to know the older boy, she knew he wasn't like that. "Alison's the one who saw him do that. WE never did."

Spencer didn't reply, but they could tell her mind was drifting to another time. They didn't realize it was only a few days previous, when she had first started to come around to the idea that maybe Alison had been right after all and that she was just too blinded by love to want to listen.

She didn't want to believe it. It still seemed so out of character. But the evidence was beginning to pile against him, wasn't it? And he had done plenty of things now that she deemed 'out of character' that made her feel like maybe she hadn't known as well as she thought she did. Maybe he really did have a secret dark side. She had always believed there was good and bad in everyone.

Hanna had noticed them talking and had arrived to join in on the intense conversation. "What's up?"

"Toby Cavanaugh got into a fight with Ben over _Emily_." Aria gossiped.

"It wasn't _over _me. God." Emily scoffed, but her voice grew gentler. "He just… saved me."

"For what, himself?" Spencer interjected.

"Ew." the blonde of the group commented, making a face similar to finding a dead spider on the bottom of her shoe.

Aria seemed to realize something based off of Emily's expression. "If we hadn't asked you about Ben, would you have told us about this?"

Emily looked around uncomfortably, answering the question with her silence.

"Toby is not a good guy, Emily. He could be seriously dangerous." Spencer told her firmly.

Spencer hated herself for the words coming out of her own mouth, but she wouldn't let anything happen to overly trusting Emily. It was hard to believe, but Toby was so different now than from the boy she had known before reform school. It was clear his time away had changed him, and not for the better. The sweet, gentle man had transformed into a guarded, unnerving teenager. The boy she had known before was gone, lost with Toby's innocence when he was shipped away to a school for delinquents for a year.

"If he's such a bad guy, why'd he take the fall for us?" Emily snapped defensively.

Spencer looked around uneasily. She knew why, but she had never been brave enough to tell them, plus Ali had sworn her to secrecy. She knew if she shared now it would sound like she was making it up just to make a point, when the truth was, Toby really had wanted so little to do with her that he was willing to leave the city and go to a school for criminal teenagers just to get away from her.

All three pairs of eyes zoned in on her, analyzing her expression change with scrutiny.

"Is this another secret? Do you know something we don't?" Aria demanded, wondering how Spencer always ended up with Ali's secrets when she had been the one to butt heads with her the most.

Hanna heard guys coming outside laughing and spotted her boyfriend among them. She began slowly heading in that direction. "Guys, why don't we just, like, chill and talk about this somewhere else? When we're alone?" she suggested brightly.

"I don't even know what just us means anymore." Aria sighed, shaking her head at this whole –A nonsense, and now they had Toby creeping to add to the mix.

"Yeah, uh, let's talk about it tomorrow. Are we still meeting up at the shed?" Hanna called over her shoulder, not waiting for an answer, and strolled over to greet her boyfriend enthusiastically now that he had parted ways with his other lover—the fuseball table.

"Yeah. Yeah, sure, why not…" Aria said sarcastically, clearly not looking forward to going back to the woods. When they had gone this morning to find a spot to set up something to remember Alison, they were convinced someone else was hanging around, watching them. They had gotten so spooked they ended up leaving hurriedly.

"Where are you going?" Emily asked as Aria started to follow Hanna's lead.

"The gallery. I promised my mom." she explained, giving a small smile before heading out.

Maya came over when she saw Aria leave, understanding that their little group chat was over. "Have you checked out the photo booth they've got in there?" she asked.

Emily was clearly a little distracted but focused on the other girl with a smile. "No. Show me the booth."

And so it was just Spencer standing alone separate from the party-goers. She considered following Maya and Emily, but they seemed to be pretty attached at the hip and she didn't want to cling onto them like lint. She would've tried to find even Hanna, but she saw her go off alone with Sean and knew she wouldn't want to join whatever activity they were engaging in.

She supposed she could go find the girls from debate club she had seen earlier and catch up with them.

But she was suddenly distracted by a figure in the shadows. She could feel their eyes on her, and the height and build made her mind immediately jump to Toby.

Was he really here watching her? Did this mean she had been right about him, that he was a peeping Tom like Alison had always said? Or was he really interested in Emily suddenly and had been looking to watch her? Or maybe he there to continue their fight?

Swallowing, Spencer watched the figure step further into the light.

A part of her felt relieved. It was just some random guy. He smiled slyly, his eyes tracing her up and down, and Spencer rolled her eyes before crossing the lawn.

No way in hell was she staying at this stupid party. She hadn't really wanted to go in the first place; she just wanted to get out of the house.

Spencer didn't bother saying goodbye to anyone. She was starting to realize that no one really cared or would notice that she was gone.

* * *

Toby sat on his porch, biting his lip as he tinkered with the metal part in his hand. He had worked a lot in his time away, and had finally saved up the money he needed to buy some motorcycle parts. While at school, they had done a lot of manual labour, which included a mechanic class. He now knew how to put together and take apart a motorcycle as well as troubleshoot. It was one of those things they tried to do at a school like that—target the boys' different interests and make them realize that there was more to life than _insert bad deed here_ and that they had the power to turn their lives around.

Toby was grateful though; the teacher that taught wood shop had quickly caught on that Toby wasn't like the other guys, and ended up offering him a few odd jobs to help him escape the trouble of the hallways and courtyard. It broadened Toby's resume as far as carpentry went, and he would much rather be around wood and tools than people. He was always introverted like that.

He cursed as he accidentally lost his grip on the contraption and dropped it, causing it to bounce noisily down the stairs.

"Could you keep it down over there?" an annoyed voice called through the darkness.

Toby rolled his eyes as he retrieved it and sat back down. "Sorry, Jenna, but you know… you _could_ go inside."

Jenna smiled, the expression much more sinister in the shadows and with her sunglasses hiding those eyes of green from him. "But Toby, then we wouldn't have this quality time together…" she simpered.

"Yeah, that'd be a shame…" he grumbled under his breath.

Jenna clicked her tongue. "You know what _would_ be a shame…" she said, raising her voice a little in irritation, and he understood that she had heard him. "You seeing Spencer again. You haven't, right?"

"No, Jenna, I haven't." he exhaled impatiently.

She straightened up smugly in her patio seat in the corner. "Good."

He didn't know she had already checked with Spencer. She was trying to catch one of them in a lie, but it seemed as though the Hastings girl had been telling the truth. Little did she know that he had visited her the other night. But he knew if she found out they had fought, she'd only get more pleasure out of that. After punishing him for going to see her in the first place, that is.

"Are you planning on seeing her again?"

Toby put down the part he had finished with harder than he meant to. "NO, Jenna. I _told_ you—it's over between us."

She seemed satisfied since she didn't ask any more questions and went back to rocking silently.

He hated when she just sat out there and hovered over him. He had gone to reform school not just to save Spencer, but to get away from Jenna, and here he was—back with her creeping over his shoulder at all times. His parents didn't want him leaving the house to 'get into any more trouble' and they had left it up to him to take care of Jenna. He still wasn't entirely sure if they thought he had set the fire in the first place, but he gathered that they thought he had gotten involved with the wrong crowd. But again, that was just a guess.

Toby used his pliers to tug on some wiring when he suddenly realized there was someone standing at the bottom of his stairs. He looked up in surprise to see Emily standing there apprehensively.

She gave him a small smile. "Hi. I never really had a chance to… I just wanted to thank you. Um… I'm not sure why you… well, it doesn't matter." she managed to stammer out. Seeming to gather the last of her shy courage, she pushed through. "Again, thanks."

He smiled at her, not really sure what to say, and she slipped away back to her house before he could come up with an appropriate reply. He didn't exactly want to give it away to Jenna what had transpired earlier that day. She would run and tattle to their parents, first of all. Second, she would eat him alive for helping one of Spencer's friends.

"Why is she thanking you?" Jenna demanded. Thankfully, Emily hadn't seemed to see her or else she probably would've saved the apology and ran the other way. "WHY is she thanking you?" she asked again when Toby didn't respond.

He sighed. "It's not what you think." he said vaguely.

She bristled. "It better not be. If I find out you are back with Alison's old posse-"

"You'll what? What can you possibly do?"

Jenna's mouth slammed shut, and she let out a growl.

Toby went back to his work, not wanting to find out what she would do, but also not going to take her abuse in any form lying down. Those days were over. He could hold his own now.

But he and Jenna both knew that there wasn't anything left for her to take from him.

* * *

As promised, the girls met up in the middle of the woods again and Spencer shared her story of the truth about the night of The Jenna Thing.

"Alison wanted us across the street so she could have it out with Toby. Ali had something on him…" she said uneasily.

"Besides being a total perv who peeped in our windows?" Hanna interjected.

Spencer nodded. "Yeah, something way bigger that made him want a one-way ticket out of Rosewood as fast as he could get one, even if it meant screwing with his future. That's why he took the fall for us."

"Well, what was it?" the blonde demanded, her palms turned upwards in question.

The academic of the group grimaced. "Me."

The other three only stared, so Spencer continued.

"Toby was… disgusted by my part in it all. He assumed we had blinded Jenna on purpose. I… had said some not-so-nice things about her earlier that day… and he assumed I had decided to take things into my own hands. He told Alison he'd rather be sent away for a year than ever see me again."

"Why are you waiting until now to tell us?" Aria asked, looking at the others to test if they knew, but they were all just as surprised at the words coming out of her mouth.

Spencer sniffled, trying not to let her tears get the best of her. "I don't know. Ali made me promise, I was embarrassed, and... I guess I was scared. I thought if we never talked about that night again, it would just go away."

"Well, it's not going away. Not unless we toss our phones and join the Navy." Hanna said irritably.

Emily cut in to try to get things back on track. "Look, there are four of us and one freak sending messages. If we just talk to each other like this, I feel like it makes it easier to deal with everything."

Aria nodded. "I think Emily's right. There are way too many secrets. We shouldn't do this in the middle of nowhere. We should do it where we can see it every day."

"You mean, like, somewhere in school?" Hanna asked.

"No. In town. We should ask if we can put a bench somewhere. Wait, you know what? Whoever did this to her, if they're still in Rosewood, we should make them look at it every day, too." Aria said triumphantly.

Hanna looked uneasy, which Spencer noticed.

"What, you hate the idea?"

"No. No, I just... I had a rough night." she said.

Branches rustling pulled them out of their conversation and they all looked at each other before bolting to find out who was creeping on them this time. What if it was Toby?

"Look." Hanna said as they all stopped in the same spot.

"Is that yours?" Spencer asked slowly, but she needn't have bothered. The owner's name was reflecting clearly across the purple fabric.

Aria was the brave one who said it out loud.

"Alison's."

* * *

_Just a teaser... Spoby will have another alone scene together next chapter ;)_


	13. Chapter 13

_Just as a note-I'm doing this story MY way. I know that some of you may disagree with the way I go about certain things, and I'm sorry to disappoint, but I'm sticking with my plans. I always love to hear your ideas though, so don't be afraid to share :) It's just that if they conflict with what I want to do, I'm sorry to say they won't be happening in my story. For instance, I don't plan on having Spoby get back together super quickly. They have a tough, long road ahead, and there will be plenty of bumps along the way but I really want to build their relationship into one that will last so it'll be a slow road. There will be people, things, that get in the way BUT I can promise that Spoby is endgame in this story and things will improve very soon. There are people that on the show were a part of their story and I don't plan on leaving those crucial moments out. Spoby got together so fast at the beginning of this story and it was meant to be abnormal in how close they suddenly got, but I'm building this so that they are getting to know each others' new selves as well as getting to know each other on a much deeper level. But yes, things will be hard for a while. But there's a storm before a rainbow, you know? Please hang in there and be patient!_

_Also, I do have to tweak the timeline/order of episodes, especially from now on, so I do know that some scenes/episodes did not occur in the order I make them out to be, but hey, it makes it that much more interesting, right? ;) I plan on making this as original as possible but I am following the general show plotline with my own twists._

_You guys are the best! Much love xo_

**I do not own Pretty Little Liars.  
**

* * *

Spencer took a long swig of her coffee as she rejoined Hanna and Aria. These days she really needed the extra caffeine boost.

"We really need to meet later to finalize the details about Ali's memorial…" Aria was saying as Spencer approached.

"Can we just give that a rest for right now? Don't we have enough going on?" Hanna argued irritably. Spotting the tall brunette, she turned towards her. "You put that bracelet in a safe place, right?"

She nodded. When they had gone to the woods a few days before to map out Alison's memorial site, there had been someone else hanging around, snapping twigs with their footsteps and frightening them. When they went searching for the perpetrator, they had stumbled upon Alison's friendship bracelet, which opened up a whole new stream of questions.

They had exhausted the discussion the night before. The truth was they had no idea how Alison's bracelet could have gotten all the way out there unless someone had taken it from her. They all recalled her wearing it the night she died.

Hanna continued. "I think we really need to figure out who A is first before we go glorifying Alison's memorial. This A person clearly isn't a fan of her and all we need is for them to ruin that too."

"A is out of our lives, remember? We need to do this." Spencer said seriously.

The girls had made the decision after everything that if the person who killed Alison was still in Rosewood, they would make them look at the memorial every day. They had met that morning before school to appraise the location in the park and discuss painting art tiles and the bench that would be installed. While there, Spencer had gotten fed up with all of the A drama and had decided that enough was enough; she blocked all unknown numbers and emails. The other three quickly followed her lead, craving the freedom of not jumping every time their phone beeped.

Without the ability of being able to text from an anonymous number or email address, A wouldn't have any way to haunt them the way that they were. And without the anonymous texts, what could they really do?

"My family is still away. You guys can come over later?"

Still looking for a subject change, Hanna jumped in. "Spence, why didn't your folks take you to New York with your sister? I mean, you deserve some retail therapy too."

Spencer hadn't confessed to them about her moment of weakness with Wren. She was too ashamed, especially because of Toby's reaction to the whole thing. She decided to keep her response simple. "Not as much as Melissa."

Thankfully, Emily finally entered the cafeteria and their attention went to her.

Spencer admired the red material wrapped loosely around her neck. It looked amazing with her skin tone. "Ooh, hot scarf, Em."

Emily oddly looked a little uncomfortable. "Thanks."

"Is it new?" Hanna wanted to know. She used to know all of their closets back to front; not knowing of this article seemed to bother her.

"No." Emily replied quickly.

A familiar ringing trilled from Hanna's pocket and she slipped out her phone, staring at the display.

"Go ahead. Answer it. We know who it can't be from." Aria reminded her.

"Hanna." Emily said when the blonde still didn't move a muscle.

"It's my dad." she said in disbelief, her face breaking out into a smile as she stepped away to answer. "Hey dad!"

"Has she even, like, _talked_ to her dad since he walked out on them?" Emily asked as they watched their friend step outside for some privacy.

"I don't know. Hanna and her father, it's one of those 'don't ask don't tell' situations." Spencer said grimly.

"We shouldn't stare at her. Come on." Aria said, gesturing them to move. Her phone beeped and she scrolled down the screen. "My brother's post just ended up on my Loop." she complained.

"You added him as a favourite?" Spencer teased as she tossed her empty coffee cup in the garbage, the other girls following suit.

"Yeah, moment of weakness." she replied amusedly.

Emily went to move from the garbage can and ended up nearly running into a familiar blue-eyed, leather-jacket-clad man.

"Sorry." Toby muttered, his eyes flickering to Spencer's for a moment.

Her breath caught. He was wearing the leather jacket he had bought with her. It still looked amazing on him. She struggled to tear her eyes away.

"My fault." Emily said, awkwardly avoiding looking at him.

The three girls continued on their route, fighting the urge to glance back.

Aria was the one to give in and cast a look behind them, remembering what Spencer had said before about Toby not being their friend anymore. "I wonder if we just bumped into –A."

Spencer immediately grew tense. "It doesn't matter. We're done with –A, remember?" She didn't want to imagine that Toby hated her that much.

"Right. Yeah. But I'm still saying out of Toby's way." Aria said.

"Yeah, and Jenna's." Spencer agreed, not wanting to cross paths with that girl again either.

Emily looked the most uncomfortable. "I guess that's the safest thing to do."

Little did she know that was about to become a lot more difficult.

* * *

Toby collected the stuff at the back of the classroom like he had been instructed by the front office to grab. It was just general chemistry supplies.

He examined the chemicals on the shelf, trying to piece together what experiments they might be doing, when Emily walked into the room.

She stopped in surprise at seeing him.

"Hi." he said automatically.

"Hi. Are you going to be in this lab?" she asked warily.

He held up his _New Transfer_ sheet. "Starting today."

"Cool…" she said, avoiding his eyes and going to sit at the middle desk. It was clear she didn't think it was all that cool, but Toby didn't say anything. He was too busy trying to figure out what was different about her than when he saw her this morning.

He walked towards the front of the room to wait for the teacher.

Finally it clicked. "You were wearing a scarf this morning." he commented, remembering the red material wrapped around her neck.

"Yeah, I was. I took it off." she explained, like it was really a mask she had placed on instead.

Not sure what spurred his honesty, he continued his original thought. "It looked good on you."

"Thanks." she replied, but was clearly uncomfortable.

Thankfully, the chemistry teacher was finally there and took his sheet, scanning it quickly.

"Okay, Toby, I see you've got the supplies you need. You can take a seat next to Emily in the second row. Her lab partner transferred to Biology so you're in luck." he told him, pointing to the middle desk the brunette was sitting nervously at.

He saw a panicked expression cross Emily's face and she immediately looked down, muttering pleas under her breath no doubt.

"So… I guess we're lab partners. You okay with that?" he asked, though he was pretty sure she wasn't. But really, they didn't have much of a choice.

"Sure." Her voice was practically quivering when she replied, but Toby let it slide.

He knew what people around here thought about him. He figured at least she and the rest of Spencer's friends wouldn't feel the same since they knew full well that he was innocent. But Spencer had probably shared the way he had treated her before, and add to the fact that he had beat up Emily's ex last week for forcing himself on her, it made sense that Emily was uncomfortable around him.

Emily was flipping through her textbook to get to the right chapter before she suddenly slammed her book shut.

Toby looked over at her in surprise to see her face had paled considerably. He wished he could ask what was wrong, but he didn't want to push her. It was clear she didn't want anyone to see what she had seen in there.

But it certainly opened up a lot of questions.

* * *

Emily shot out of chemistry class so fast there was no way Toby could try to start a casual conversation with her. He had hoped this new arrangement would give him a chance to talk to her, and then of course, talk to her about Spencer. He still was desperate to win her back.

Toby took his time heading to his locker. Roaming the halls alone was much lonelier than it used to be. It was probably because of the amount of glares and nervous looks he received with every step he took. He had been considered a freak before the whole mess of last summer had happened, but it was nothing compared to now.

Emily was at her locker, but Toby knew she didn't want to talk to him, so he continued down the hall on the opposite side to his. Upon unlocking his locker, he heard snickers behind him and he opened the door to find an explosive mess.

There was what appeared to be shaving cream coating everything in there. His books, binders, jacket, book bag—they were all swarmed with the foamy substance. A huge glob sloshed onto the floor while the pranksters cackled at their brilliance.

Toby spotted Emily eying him sympathetically, but she closed her locker door and went in the other direction. He sighed to himself as he dug his stuff out. He'd have to be late to next class.

He thought back to all those many months ago when Spencer had dove in to defend him, a stranger then, from the popular boys of Rosewood. She had unloaded a ton of her Hastings sass on them and they dispersed like scolded dogs.

It was clear that, although he was hoping to get closer to Emily, that she was not Spencer. She didn't have the bravery, the I-don't-care-what-anyone-thinks attitude that the youngest Hastings embodied.

The guys were still laughing behind Toby, and he did his best to ignore them. He was gradually dragging all of his stuff out, trying not to spread the mess on the floor since he'd get in even more trouble, but it was sort of inevitable.

Just then, a voice interrupted the awkward hallway.

"Oh what do we have here…" a sarcastic voice came, clearly annoyed by the immaturity displayed. "Clifford Yeardley, I think you did this EXACT same prank in the third grade. Guess what? It wasn't intelligent then either."

The guffawing stopped and the guy in charge scowled, before turning down the hall.

Toby stared at the brunette, unable to believe she had come to his aid.

Spencer pushed her hair off her face before bending down to help him gather his stuff. "Come on. We should clean these off before they ruin the pages."

He didn't know what to say, too shocked that she was suddenly talking to him to do much else, and followed her silently. Hesitating only for a moment, she pushed through the boys bathroom doors.

"It's always more of a crime if it's a guy in the girls." she explained.

"Wha-what are YOU doing in here?!" the only guy in the bathroom exclaimed, zipping his pants up quickly.

She sent him a look, rolling her eyes, before heading to the sink. The guy didn't say anything else before scurrying out of the bathroom.

Toby had to stifle a chuckle. Spencer hadn't lost her touch at all. She knew how to send people running scared.

"Pass me some paper towels." she instructed, pulling him away from his admiring.

He hit the button on the dispenser a few times to gather some sheets and handed them over.

Spencer wet them, beginning to scrape off the white foam from his chemistry book.

"Spencer…"

"Forget it." she cut off quickly, not looking at him. She continued cleaning, her eyes focused on the task at hand.

"But…"

Spencer turned around, finally catching his gaze, and sighed. "Look, I know we've had our differences, especially lately. But we both know that you may have been bullied before, but it's nothing like now. And the only reason it's gotten so bad is because you went to reform school for a year, and we know who the real reason for that was." she said, turning away again.

"Hey. Spence…" Toby said, reaching out and touching her wrist gently.

His soft touch sent electricity through her veins. She cast her eyes northward to meet his blue ones. He let his fingers wrap around her wrist, tugging her closer to him. She felt hypnotized as she stepped forward.

"Spencer…" he whispered, letting his hands find her waist.

She tilted her head up to watch him, knowing what he wanted and wanting it too, but also knowing that it was a really bad idea.

Toby was desperate to kiss her. He had thought of nothing but that for the past year. He longed to hold her, to feel the way her head fit perfectly nestled into his shoulder, to feel her bury her laughs in his chest again, to see her flirty, smug smile when she one-upped him. He had missed her. He longed for what they had. All he wanted was for things to go back to the way they used to, when he could call her his.

But so much had changed. So much had happened. There was so much bad blood between them now. He had missed so much in the past year; he wasn't able to be there for her when she lost her best friend. There was so much he didn't know, and so much she too was oblivious to in his life.

It wouldn't be right for him to kiss her now, no matter how badly he wanted to.

Spencer must have come to the same realization, since she took a step back to withdraw from his hold.

"I'm sorry." she said, not entirely sure what she was really apologizing for. "I can't miss next class. My Russian History teacher wants to talk to me about this essay competition thing…"

Toby was impressed; although he shouldn't have been surprised since it was Spencer and all. "Essay competition?"

She flushed, for some reason looking embarrassed. "Yeah, it's the Golden Orchid. It's a national competition for historical writing."

"Well good luck. Thanks… for your help." he said, gesturing towards his cleaner things.

She forced a smile. "Yeah, you're welcome. Um, see you around, I guess."

He nodded before she left out of the bathroom, trying to screw her head back on straight before she went to class. Toby was nothing if not consistent; he was always making her brain go fuzzy.

* * *

Spencer sat cross-legged on her bed later that night. She held the purple bracelet emblazoned with ALISON between her forefingers and thumbs. Was this really Alison's? How did it get out there? Had she really been wearing it the night she died?

So very much had happened that night. It was all such a blur now. She had fought with Alison, fought with Toby, laughed with her friends, and then searched for Alison only to find she was gone for good. She had replayed everything about that night over and over in her head. Something was telling her that Alison knew something bad was going to happen to her. She was clearly bottling something that was rattling her to her core. Even when Jason had called, she had seemed sketchy—if it even was him. Her doubts of Alison's honesty that night had only doubled since then.

Her doubts about Toby now, too, were changing. She had been so certain that he hated her, that he wanted nothing to do with her, but today, in the boys' bathroom of all places, she swore he had wanted to kiss her. The way he touched her had flooded back so many memories. He had always been so gentle.

Spencer was all for drowning in more happy, school-girl-worthy memories of the time before the summer from hell, when a noise downstairs caught her attention.

She immediately tensed. Her family was still away. Was someone breaking in? Was it A, furious that they couldn't get a hold of her to torment her that now they were resorting to physically maiming her?

Panicked, she threw the bracelet back in the drawer and ran downstairs. She was sick of fearing this person. She grabbed a knife from the block and circled around towards the back door, knowing now the clatter was from there.

"Hello? Who is it?" she called out, trying to force the strength into her voice. She knew criminals would sometimes scamper off if they realized someone was home, and especially if that person was going to confront them head on.

And then of course there was a small part of her hoping that she was just being paranoid and it was just someone she knew causing a ruckus.

"Where the hell are you?" a slurred voice came.

Spencer tensed, seeing the shadow of the person before they stumbled into the doorway holding a massive pot with a small flowery tree-like plant sprouting from it.

The man smiled watermelon-slice-wide when he spotted her. "Oh. I picked this for you. From the garden."

Spencer put the knife down on the counter irritably, finally exhaling. She tried to keep her voice even. "Wren. What the hell are you doing here?"

"I've come here to set things right."

She was positive of the slur now and realized that he had had more than just a few beer.

"You're drunk." she complained.

"One does not come unfortified to the House of Hastings." he said with a grin, looking quite pleased with himself.

"Wren, I thought you were an axe murderer or something!" she shouted, trying to get him to see, even in his intoxication, that what he had done was not funny in the slightest.

"I tried calling you, but you're blocking my number."

Spencer's brow furrowed. No she hadn't.

Then it clicked.

"Oh. No, I wasn't blocking _you_, I was-" she stopped her explanation as she got closer, finally seeing the huge mess of his improvised entrance. "Did you break through the back door?"

"I had difficulty locating the front of the house. I'm sorry!" he said with a grimace.

"Wren, go. Now." she ordered angrily, pointing him to go out the way he came in. She did not need to deal with drunk ex-fiancés of her sister when she had all of this other stuff going on. And she certainly didn't need it when she was so confused on what was going on between her and Toby.

"I've thought of nothing but you since you came to see me. I've been a coward. But that ends tonight. I'm here to take full responsibility. Summon your father." he said as seriously as a heavily intoxicated twenty-something man could.

Spencer had to laugh at his terminology. "I'm not summoning anyone. My parents are in New York. With Melissa."

He caught her reminder loud and clear. "Then I shall depart."

Unfortunately, he went to place the pot down on the counter and didn't get the full bottom on there. It fell off balance and crashed onto the floor, the pieces of ceramic and soil flying everywhere.

He made a face, looking terribly guilty.

The pair of them crouched down to attend to the mess.

"Great… just great…" she said, still sort of amused despite the mess, and lurched forward to catch him before he could fall onto a broken piece.

Wren was so close now she could see all the colours of his eyes, even in the dark.

"Your face is very fair." he murmured, his admiring eyes scanning over her face to take in the view.

She could feel herself blushing at the compliment. She wasn't used to boys telling her she was beautiful.

Needing a subject change, especially since she could feel him gravitating closer, she thought of her own sobering technique. "How about some black coffee?"

"I've been drinking scotch; I'd rather not mix my beverages." Wren joked with a grin, accepting her hand.

"Mhmm…"

She helped him to his feet, attempting to get him on the stool.

"Okay. Come on. Right here. Okay." she said through giggles as he latched on to her.

He stumbled into the slightly-higher seat. "Right here?" he asked, the grin still present on his face. It was clear he was enjoying himself.

"Yes." she giggled back. Spotting the butcher knife laying precariously on the island, she picked it up. "You scared the hell out of me." she tried to scold, waving the knife before sliding it back into its spot in the block.

"Sorry." he said, looking far too amused to appear sincere.

His eyes wouldn't stop roving over her, and she knew she better get started on that coffee before she had another mess to deal with.

* * *

Toby was sitting on his porch, contemplating earlier with Spencer, when he spotted another familiar brunette across the street.

Emily was outside, her mind clearly full, ripping up some small piece of paper into tiny pieces before throwing it in the garbage bin. She had dragged out the bigger bags to leave by the curb as well.

She seemed pretty lost in her thoughts, but her expression was so sad that Toby felt the pull to check up on her.

"You okay?" he asked from several feet away, not wanting to crowd her.

She looked up. "Yeah, Im fine." she said, although he was sure she was fibbing. She seemed to realize that since she pulled out a fake smile and tried to joke with him. "I mean, as okay as I can be taking out the garbage."

He decided to address something he had been meaning to since class earlier. "I know that you're not crazy about having me as a lab partner…"

"No, it's okay. I'm cool with that." she told him.

"Really? You wouldn't switch if you could?" he asked amusedly, already knowing the answer despite her avoiding eyes. "I understand. You have to be careful with who you get close to. I know people think I'm some sort of freak. I can't do anything about that."

Emily piped up before he could continue, watching him warily still. "But it's got to bother you. Idiots running around, putting shaving cream in your locker, laughing at you, making up stuff about who you are…"

He mulled it over for a moment. "I didn't say it doesn't get to me—just that there's nothing I can do about it. Like you said, they're idiots."

"Sorry." she said, and he knew it wasn't just because of his bullying situation.

"You notice how much you and I keep saying we're sorry to each other?" he asked with a smile.

"Sorry, I-" Emily stopped herself, a smile crossing her face in amusement.

"Do you see what I mean?" he teased. He grew serious for a moment. "Look, I know we're in sort of an awkward situation here. With everything that happened last summer… things are bound to get sort of tense. But I think we're big enough people that we can push that aside in order to survive this class."

She nodded, and he figured his chat with her was done for the night. He turned around to head back to his house.

But Emily spoke before he could go.

"That other day in chemistry… there was something in my book. Some pictures. Did you see them? Before I closed my book, did you see what they were?"

He realized now that that must have been what she was ripping up before. "I don't think you wanted anyone to see them. I'm cool with that."

Honestly, it was her business. It wasn't his place to pry.

"You are?"

He nodded, confused on why she was so surprised. He supposed most people in Rosewood were pretty damn nosy, but frankly, he was fine with people having their own secrets. Emily didn't owe him any answers.

Her face had morphed back to the troubled expression it had been before he had come over, and he knew he couldn't leave yet.

Toby had a feeling he knew what Emily was worried about. He had seen the new girl give her that red scarf earlier and the look the pair of them exchanged. He wondered briefly if the girl had been in those pictures that she had ripped up, and he suddenly realized exactly what sort of moment those pictures could have captured.

"Do you still swim?" he asked, and realized it came off rather randomly.

"Yes, I do." she said amusedly, clearly confused by his question.

"Do you do it because people are watching you, or because you like to swim?" he asked pointedly.

"I do it because… I love the way it makes me feel." she explained.

"Then forget about the idiots. They're going to see what they want to see. Even if you completely changed everything, they wouldn't be happy. They don't want you to change. They want you to go away. I tried that once. I didn't like it." he added with a chuckle, despite the time being one of his darkest. But Rosewood hadn't changed while he had gone, except to become more obviously darker.

"And now you're back." she said awkwardly. With their history as it was, he knew mentioning his reform school days wasn't exactly the way to become best friends.

"Yeah. I am."

Emily still seemed wary, but he hoped he was breaking down some of her walls. "See you tomorrow?"

There. That was better than earlier when she had raced out of chemistry like her hair was on fire.

"Tomorrow." he replied with a smile, turning around to head back to his porch, hoping that he may be on the road to a new friendship in this lonely town.

* * *

Spencer pulled into the Edgewood Motorcourt in Wren's car. There was no way she was letting him drive there in his drunk state. She was just grateful that he hadn't driven all the way from Philadelphia. The more time she spent with him, the easier it was to forget about her current romantic troubles.

She walked him up to his room, handing him back his keys.

"How are you going to get home?" he asked.

Right on cue, Hanna pulled into the parking lot and stopped to wait for her.

"Um… don't worry about me." she said, nodding towards the car. She was grateful Hanna hadn't asked any questions and had just come.

Wren pulled her attention back to him. "I was telling the truth. About wishing I'd met you first."

There was that flattery that always made her cheeks burn.

Gauging her reaction, he stepped forward. She knew what was coming. She didn't fight it.

His lips met hers, increasing their speed when she responded, and she knew he wanted more even as they pulled apart.

Sure enough. "Come inside."

She giggled, her face heating up even more. She knew they wouldn't be talking over coffee that was for sure. But she knew, based on her emotionally hung-over state, that it would lead to things she would regret. "I've done some pretty stupid things lately. I'm _way_ over my limit."

All she would need is for A to find out, which they would, and to tell her family that still was exiling her. They hadn't even called to check up on her while they were away all week.

"Goodnight, Spencer." Wren said, his eyes hopeful that maybe she'd offer for them to continue this another night.

But she chose her words carefully to send the message across. He may be a sweet, charming man, but they didn't have a future what with their past being what it was.

"Bye, Wren."

* * *

Spencer had gotten into Hanna's car after their farewell, a little too breathless when she told her that it wasn't what it looked like, but Hanna didn't seem to care that she had just spotted Spencer making out with a mid-twenties doctor-in-training that used to be engaged to her sister; she was too busy sitting dumbfounded and being scared to death by the fact that she just had the song _I Don't Need You Anymore_ dedicated to her over the radio by her 'best friend –A'.

The conversation was still a hot topic when they arrived back at Spencer's house.

"What are we going to do about -A? I mean, he or she or it hasn't stopped. They're calling radio stations, making dedications. What do we do now?" the shorter girl demanded.

"I don't know, Hanna." Spencer said tiredly, wishing she knew the answer.

"Well it was your idea to shut her out!"

"And everybody went along with it!" Spencer snapped.

"United we stand. Great." Hanna said sarcastically.

Spencer was about to retort, when her friend suddenly stopped, staring at the kitchen in fear. "Spencer."

Spencer followed her gaze and froze. The smashed pot had been cleaned from the floor and arranged like a coffin on the island. "Somebody's been in the house." she said hoarsely. She had left the mess as it was, planning on cleaning it after she got home.

The possible reason for the break-in suddenly occurred to her. "Alison's bracelet!"

Both of them raced upstairs to her bedroom. Spencer sighed, finding the accessory exactly as she left it. They both turned away, only to gasp at the sight before them.

Written in what appeared to be lipstick across her floor length mirror was the ominous message: _It won't be that easy, bitches. -A_

Spencer quickly sent out SOS texts to the other two, knowing that this was bad.

It didn't take long for Emily and Aria to arrive. Spencer led them upstairs immediately.

Hanna had been staring at it for long enough now that she was starting to notice things besides the words emblazoned across the mirror.

"Is that Jungle Red?" she asked aloud.

"Alison's colour." Aria said softly, knowing that it was no coincidence.


	14. Chapter 14

_Just want to say something special to my especially loyal reviewers-I'm talking about the ones that never fail to miss a chapter or give a lengthy review when they do give me feedback-I really, really appreciate you. I love all of my readers, and love any reader that takes the time to write me a review, but the ones that give me a detailed retelling of their feelings/thoughts/likes/dislikes/aspirations for what they'd like to see ... you guys really know how to make a writer feel appreciated! I can't thank you enough._

_To those that don't like that I use a lot of the show's dialogue... I know. You've read or at least heard it all before, why would you want to read it again? I know it's boring for some if not most of you. But that's not going away any time soon I'm afraid. It's always been my plan for this story. There are certain scenes from the show that I have to include in this in order to make it flow and to showcase which things are assumed to be the same. If I summarized through every single scene that I need from the show, it would take too long and be even more boring to read, trust me. Also, I do make minor tweaks or change/show their thoughts/perceptions during those scenes, so I consider them important. But I do want to express my apologies to anyone that this bothers because I know there are a few of you who have expressed your dislike for the repetitiveness. I really am sorry for that, but I don't want to lie to you guys. That's the way this story will be.  
_

_I'm putting this warning out there because this chapter especially has quite a bit. Please just appreciate the fact that it takes me a very long time to rewatch these scenes, copy the dialogue out word for word, watch expressions and explore other character's perspectives. It's not as easy as it looks, trust me._

_That being said, EVERYONE, thanks for your support, reviews and interest!_

**I do not own Pretty Little Liars.**

* * *

Spencer was so grateful that her best friends had spent the night at her place with her, not wanting to leave her home alone after the –A break-in the night before.

Aria needed the extra friend support just as much, since the night before her mother had finally found out the truth of her father's affair the year before that she had been keeping a secret since. They had discussed the sensitive topic over breakfast in Spencer's kitchen, Hanna putting her foot in her mouth a couple times in her typical way, and it was clear that this was only the beginning of the tough road the Montgomery family would be going down.

When they all teamed up to go upstairs to clean the mirror before school, Hanna had received a text from the usual devil. They had unblocked their phones and email addresses last night after that fiasco—they really didn't want personal visits from the beast. The taunting texts, however horrid, were definitely the better alternative.

–A had sent them a video clip of the four of them discovering the mirror together. The angle and setting of the shot alerted them that the video was shot from inside Spencer's closet.

Which meant that –A had been only feet from them last night.

The four of them raced upstairs to check the closet, although they knew –A wouldn't have sent the clip unless they were long gone. All that they found in their search was the lipstick tube which, after testing it across Aria's skin, was a perfect match to the writing on the mirror.

Too freaked out, the four of them got ready for school quickly and headed off before they could be late.

At Spencer's locker, Aria made a proposition of the identity of –A that she couldn't agree with, however much she hated Jenna.

"You cannot seriously think that a _blind_ girl broke into my house? That would take a lot more than a talking GPS."

"Well I didn't say that Jenna was _alone_." Aria reminded her.

It was Emily who jumped to the Cavanaugh boy's defense. "Let's not go to the Toby place, okay?"

"Why not? You guys think her _guide dog_ left behind his lipstick?" Aria asked patronizingly.

Spencer looked to Emily, knowing that Aria wasn't going to be letting up on this one any time soon. "Yeah, you want to ask your lab partner what he was doing last night?"

Emily had confessed last night that she and Toby had been paired up in chemistry. Spencer felt a douse of jealousy and resentment, and then hated herself for it. It wasn't Emily's fault—she hadn't picked Toby. But Spencer's feelings for Toby were so confused right now, and kissing Wren again the night before had only made things worse. She didn't know what she wanted. So much had changed since she and Toby had been together; she didn't think they'd ever get back what they had. And she still didn't entirely trust him, not with the way things had panned out lately.

She wanted to see the best in him, but this whole Alison/A ordeal had left her feeling more paranoid than ever. It's not as though Toby had no motivation, and Aria was certainly convinced that it could be him. She saw her reasoning, but her lovesick heart was constantly disagreeing and trying to find loopholes to get Toby off the hook. She really didn't know what was truth or fiction these days.

Mr. Sheldrake, her Russian History teacher, suddenly cut in before Emily could answer. "Spencer. Sorry ladies, I didn't mean to interrupt, but I hope you're as proud of your friend as I am." He pulled the large envelope from the Golden Orchid board from behind his back and handed it to her. "Congratulations. My instincts were right. This just makes it official."

Aria seemed confused. "What's that about?"

"An essay contest." Spencer explained quickly, not wanting to get into it.

"Wait, did you win it? Aren't you going to at least open the envelope?" Emily asked. It wasn't like Spencer to pass up tallying up her to-date victories, but the others had no idea that that essay had been plagiarized.

"Why should she? She wins an award for waking up." Hanna teased as the academic teenager stowed the envelope in her locker.

Spencer forced a smile, and the four headed off to class.

She sighed. She had no idea what she was going to do now.

* * *

Toby was grateful that Emily seemed friendlier in chemistry. After his talk with her last night, he had hoped they'd get to a more comfortable place, but he knew that their situation hadn't changed; he was still a guy who took the fall for a crime for them, the guy that dated her best friend until he broke her heart, and the guy who beat up her boyfriend for getting too handsy with her.

But Emily had come in and said hi to him immediately, settling into her seat and passing him a copy of the class assignment when they went around the room with ease.

They would be mixing up a new experiment today from scratch. Toby had collected the chemicals while Emily collected the instruments needed.

"Sodium borate." she narrated a little while later, pouring the substance in the beaker and swirling it with the glass stir stick.

Her spins were rather forceful and the stick kept cracking against the sides.

"Easy. That glass beaker is made of… glass." he warned, trying not to smile.

Emily released the stick. "Maybe you should do it. I've had too much coffee and not enough sleep."

He acquiesced. "Big party on a Thursday night?"

"No I …slept at a friend's."

Her awkwardness made him contemplate two different people. Either she had stayed at the new girl's and fought her feelings for her more, or she had been at Spencer's and was too afraid to say her name around him.

"What did you do last night?"

Her persistence in the question alerted him that she was eager for a subject change. "Sat at the Grille doing homework." Toby replied honestly.

"That's where you study?" she asked in surprise.

"Got to. Jenna listens to her lectures loudly and it messes me up. She doesn't like using her headphones at home." he explained.

"Why the Grille? It's not exactly quiet there either."

"It is if you stay late enough. I close the place like every night." he admitted.

He was curious if she had told Spencer yet about if they were lab partners and decided to take the back door route in asking whether she had seen her recently.

"So who's house did you stay at last night? That new girl?"

"Who, Maya? Why would you think that?" Emily asked quickly.

"I just figured she's the newest member of your posse. Has she learned the secret handshake yet?" he teased, knowing the group of four friends were inseparable these days. Although, truth be told, he hadn't been around for the year that they had distanced themselves.

"She's more my friend than the group's." Emily told him.

"Why is that?" he asked in surprise. She and Emily seemed to get along wonderfully; he couldn't imagine the other girls not liking her.

"She just cares about different things." she replied shortly, sounding a little defensive.

Toby realized that he may have pushed things a little too far and backtracked. "Different is good. I like different. This town has too much of the same."

Emily smiled a little at his words, looking back to her notebook. People were starting to leave class now and she seemed to notice the time.

"I didn't think this would take so long." she said apologetically.

"I don't mind. I like being at school when nobody else is." he reassured her.

Emily checked the assignment list and compared it to her notes. "Viscosity, elasticity, and tensile strength. Anything else we need to cover?"

Toby caught a whiff of the sticky paste they had created. "Maybe our noses. This stuff's rank."

She leaned forward to take the proffered sniff and recoiled. "Oh god." she exclaimed, wrinkling her nose, and pushing it away.

In her haste to get the disgusting smell away, she pushed his arm, causing his elbow to knock over the beaker of water on the counter and splash across his stuff.

Her eyes went wide and she immediately moved to fix the mess. "I am _so_ sorry."

"It's just water." he reminded her.

The beaker had been almost empty so it was just a small mess. He knew there would be no lasting damage.

Emily was wiping off the back of his wet notebook when she spotted the doodles on the back. "Did you _draw _this? It's just like this cover from this band: Circa Survive. This is so good."

He simply stared at her. He had never heard of another person liking that band. They were a small indie band that wasn't very famous. He never knew Emily was even into that kind of music; although, to be fair, he didn't know much about her.

"You _know_ that band?" he had to ask, still unable to wrap his mind around it.

Emily smiled broadly. "My cousin works at a bar on South Street. He snuck me into a show."

Toby was impressed and forgot all about the mess, intrigued by her opinion. "Have you heard any of their new stuff yet? It's totally-"

"Amazing!" she gushed.

The pair shared a long gaze and smile, before Emily got shy and looked away. He swore she was blushing and it made something jump in his stomach.

"If you're into them, there's this other band I should turn you on to. I'll burn you a CD." he told her.

Her smile returned. "Thanks. I should go. I'm going to be late for swim practice."

She got up and walked around him, but Toby realized that he was missing something from his pile.

"Um, Emily?"

She turned back slowly, looking nervous. "Yeah?"

"My notebook." he said, gesturing towards the top of her stack of books.

She shook her head in disbelief, chuckling a little as she handed it back to him. "Oh. Jeez. I totally need more sleep."

"Or more coffee." he added, then had a thought when she didn't avert her gaze. "Want to meet up at the Grille later?"

He was so nervous for the rejection that was sure to come, but she smiled.

"Sure."

She left the room and Toby tried not to think about the last girl he had made plans like that with. Maybe this hangout with Emily later would be a perfect chance to talk to her about Spencer.

Toby gathered his stuff and headed out of the classroom.

* * *

The Grille was pretty quiet when Toby arrived. He and Emily hadn't set an exact time but he figured she'd come after her swim practice. That was sort of what was implied.

He took his usual spot by the window. He had been taking this seat since he and Spencer first hung out there. He knew it wasn't helping him let go any, but he wanted to treasure the happy memories he had with her. Back before everything went to hell.

He spotted Hanna enter the Grille, sitting down at a table and immediately pulling out her phone, no doubt to check if her date was coming soon. She ordered an iced tea from the waitress and Toby went back to his homework.

He planned on saving some for when Emily arrived in case things got awkward, but he hoped that wouldn't happen. So far things had been pretty easy with Emily. She was easy to talk to and he was enjoying finding things in common with her.

The door opening to the Grille caught his attention and he looked up to see Spencer entering the restaurant and immediately settling across from Hanna. They were soon wrapped up in intense conversation, barely pulling themselves out of it to order their dinner.

It was getting darker out and Toby wondered if Emily was coming at all. He had made the CD he told her he would make, looking forward to giving it to her. He had drawn the cover art, hoping he didn't look too eager, and it had taken him quite some time so he hoped she liked it.

Toby flipped the page to continue reading on about Holden Caulfield's adventures, secretly wondering why Spencer had a red lipstick in a plastic baggie. She and Hanna were almost arguing in their discussion and he wondered what was up. Had someone borrowed the lipstick and used too much? He'd never understand girls.

He looked up as the bell jingled again to announce the newest person's arrival and he saw Emily shooting him a smile as she closed the door behind her. He immediately returned it, moving his bag so she knew where she was welcome to sit.

But he heard her name being called and Emily turned towards Spencer and Hanna who were curious as to why she was there.

Would she tell them? Toby wasn't even sure Emily had told Spencer that they were lab partners. Did Emily feel the need to keep it from Spencer? Was Spencer that hateful of him?

Emily sat down with the girls, briefly glancing back at Toby before getting engaged in whatever the girls were sharing.

Toby clued in finally that Emily had made her choice. She was only his friend if they could keep it a secret, and that's not how he wanted things to be. He packed up his stuff, trying to force back the hurt that was causing a lump to form in his throat. First Spencer, now Emily. Would he ever have a friend in Rosewood again? He had hoped Emily could help him with Spencer, and now he realized that there was no hope for them at all.

Toby spoke to the waitress and asked her to deliver the mixed CD to Emily for him after her dinner was finished.

It was Spencer's eyes that found his as he made to leave. Hers were filled with a subtle agony that he knew was because of the seat he was rising from. She was remembering their first date there too.

He finally tore his eyes away from her and swept out of the door, running away from all of the pain that came from looking into the love of your life's eyes and knowing that you had to move on.

* * *

Peter Hastings scolded his daughter for her excellent scoring hit and Spencer wondered briefly how she ended up with such a screwed up family.

She accepted the ball and this time threw the hit so the ball went careening into the net and bounced back at them. Her father's grin of approval made her sick to her stomach and she couldn't keep the scowl off her face.

Her father had welcomed her home from school the day before with butter creams, her favourite candy when she was seven, and tons of praise. Considering she had received the cold shoulder for the past few weeks thanks to her kiss with Wren, she was rather surprised. But soon her dad was discussing essay competitions, and, before she could diffuse the situation, he was already inviting her to play doubles with him and a major client and his daughter.

Safe to say she was both surprised and pleased. She immediately agreed. She and her dad used to play together at the club all of the time; if he was inviting her to do so again it meant that all was forgiven and she was eager to get her family back.

Wanting to represent their family in the best way possible, Spencer headed to the club immediately to swat some balls around.

Five hours in, a curly-haired boy who worked for the country club had made an admiring comment about her powerful serve and she had flirted back without thinking. He was really cute and admitted that he was supposed to close the courts ten minutes ago.

Spencer realized he had kept them open for her and tried not to feel flattered. They exchanged some witty banter and she served a couple more before she agreed to call it quits for the day and left to change.

She caught his eyes following her, and she realized that she was feeling the smallest flutter of butterflies in her stomach.

Of course, the next morning all happy, butterfly-like feelings got squashed when her dad admitted that the pair they were playing against weren't very good and that they had to throw the match to score the client. Spencer, who had spent hours working herself to the ground on the courts yesterday, hadn't been impressed.

And it didn't get much better when her dad continued to send her annoyed looks whenever she scored well. It was so backwards from what she was used to she felt like her head was spinning.

After the match, where the guests of course won, Spencer headed to her bag on the sidelines to put her stuff away. The boy from the day before, who she now knew was named Alex, passed her a bottle of water and asked her about it.

"Did we waste your real game yesterday?"

She zipped up her stuff. "What? No. I was… just off." she lied.

But he saw right through her. "No you weren't. Not when the match started." he reminded her.

She sighed. "It's a long story. And it was important for our guests to win."

"So the only way for you to do that was for you to lose?" Alex asked.

She didn't respond. She didn't agree with her dad's decision, but she wasn't about to bash him to a club employee, especially not one she kind of wanted to impress.

"What's up with that? Did your dad ask you to do that or…?"

"Look, he's not always like this." Spencer said quickly. She may not agree with her father's decision, but he was still her dad. She didn't want Alex thinking he was normally this manipulative, but she was starting to wonder if maybe he was.

"Whatever you say. I just… I see a lot of it here." he said, clearly not wanting to offend her.

She was confused about what he was referring to. "A lot of what?"

"People playing games… just, off the court, you know?"

She imagined at a country club full of the rich and fabulous that was pretty common. "Yeah."

Spencer turned to leave but then paused, mustering up all the courage she could.

"Hey is there any chance you'd want to hang out some time? Like, not here?"

She had to move on from Toby. They didn't have a future. And Alex was the first guy that was close to her age that she had felt butterflies around since Toby. She wasn't going to let him get away because she was too coy.

"Yeah." Alex replied, looking surprised but pleased by her proposition.

"Okay." she said before waving him off, trying to keep the bashful smile off her face.

* * *

Spencer pulled out a pear from the kitchen drawer and grabbed a knife to begin slicing it up on the wooden cutting board. She left her books on the table, planning on staying to study once her snack was prepared.

Her dad came down the stairs and spotted her, immediately coming over. "Don't tell me that's how you want to celebrate? With a pear? Put that away. You deserve a three-course meal tonight." he boasted jollily, sifting through his mail.

"I think I'll pass." she said grimly, still not happy with what had gone on earlier. It left her feeling really uncomfortable. She had been raised to believe that you were a failure if you didn't try your best and win. Today, her world was turned upside down when she was forced to intentionally lose. Everything since had felt so backwards.

"Pass? Honey, you're the guest of honour. You won a national award _and_ helped me sign Newhoff. Which almost didn't happen."

She hadn't heard that bit. "Why? Didn't I hit the net enough?" she asked sarcastically, but her dad didn't pick up on it.

"No, no. You were perfect. But things almost fell apart when you guys were in the locker room."

"Why? What happened?" she asked, surprised that he was actually serious. When she and the client's daughter had left the locker room, everything seemed just as upbeat as it had before they had gone in so she hadn't suspected a thing.

"Oh, well, he _expected_ lunch at the club and of course I didn't make a reservation so there were no tables."

Spencer was confused. "We sat at your favourite table."

"After I made a scene." he explained. "I had to tell the manager that kid on the courts forgot to call it in."

It clicked exactly who he was talking about and she blanched. "Who, Alex? Wait, will he be in trouble over this?"

If Alex got fired because of her dad's selfish actions to protect his reputation or score a client…

"Who cares? The kid can pick up balls anywhere, right? We snagged a major client, Spence."

Spencer couldn't wipe the disgusted look off her face. She could not believe the stuff coming out of her father's mouth right now.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Just did what I had to do."

It reminded her of what Alex had said earlier, about people always playing games. She was really getting sick of games. Ali used to play them, and now A. She didn't need another round.

"To win?" she asked sassily.

"Don't give me that attitude. Spencer, you're just as driven and competitive as I am. Don't pretend you're not." he teased in his typical I-know-best tone.

Spencer sucked in all of the patience she had, but then realized she had none. She started to pack up her books. There was no way she was studying down here.

"You know what, you're right. I _am_. I'm just not sure it's a thing I want to celebrate anymore."

Her father didn't look particularly concerned so she continued on, not backing down this time.

"Oh, and by the way, you don't have to read my essay."

Now she had his attention. "Why not?" he asked, looking disappointed.

"Because I stole it. But I'm going to win a big fat award so I'm guessing you're okay with that. Because winning is all that matters, right?" she retorted before storming upstairs, unable to believe the family she had been born into. No wonder she was so screwed up.

Her dad's speechless expression was worth all the hell she received for it later too.

* * *

Toby didn't avert his eyes from his book, even when he felt a girl descend next to him at his spot by the window. He didn't need to look to know who it was, and he wasn't about to let her off the hook for the other day that easily.

"Hi. I was hoping you'd be here." Emily said.

"Why?" he asked pointedly.

She hesitated, and he knew she felt guilty about the other night. He could see the guilt on her face before he left, but the fact that she couldn't tell her friends she was meeting him had really hurt.

"I really liked tracks three, seven, and nine. Nine was the best." she gushed. "And I'm sorry about last night. Really sorry."

He didn't reply, just flipped another page, not sure how long he could keep up the semi-silent treatment. He really needed a friend.

Emily placed a plastic CD case on the table, pretending to nonchalantly look around the room, but her smile of pride gave her away.

Intrigued, Toby couldn't help but smile as he ran his eyes over the title. _Toby's Mix_, it said.

"What's that?"

She turned more towards him, happy for the invitation to explain. "Something I made for you. There are a couple girly songs so you have to keep an open mind."

Toby picked it up curiously and she knew she was in.

The waitress passed and she grabbed her attention. "Can I get a coffee please?"

It looked like this time she was here to stay. And that was good enough for Toby to forgive her for the indiscretion of the day before and learn more about the special gift he had received from his new friend.

No one had ever made him anything before, but the feeling he got from it made him happy and he decided to put off asking about Spencer. Frankly, he was more interested in getting to know Emily right now.

He and Emily got lost in conversation for hours, and he had to admit that closing out the Grille with a friend by his side was a million times better than doing it alone.

* * *

Spencer nervously leaned against the railing, watching the match going on below. She was waiting for Alex to change and come out for their date. He had been working until five so she had decided it was just easier if she met him at the club.

She was relieved when he said he had to work though, because it meant her father hadn't cost him his job. She knew Alex worked hard and that working at a country club paid better than flipping burgers.

He greeted her friendlily and she returned the favour, just as eager to get going.

Alex was cute, sweet, and she had yet to get to know him really well. But she was definitely looking forward to it. She knew they were from two different worlds, but she and Toby had been too and they had worked well together. She had similar hope for her and Alex.

And maybe one day, when Alex took her hand like he did before they crossed the street, she wouldn't crave Toby's calloused fingers interlaced with hers.


	15. Chapter 15

_Keep in mind that Spencer and Toby are both still in the dark about certain things. For instance, Spencer doesn't know Aria is seeing Fitz, that Emily is falling for Maya, etc. And I know a lot of you are still mad at Spencer for believing Alison or starting to believe Alison about Toby, but you have to remember how little she and Toby REALLY know about each other. And don't forget-Toby went to reform school because he had thought Spencer started the fire to get Jenna. He's not exactly innocent in all of this either. Thankfully, both of them got a bit of sense back, but with all of the A things going on, they're going to continue to get very confused and doubtful. BUT THINGS WILL GET BETTER!_

_Thank you all! I cannot believe how many reviews this has! The next two chapters after this are about 7000 words so I hope you enjoy lengthy ones.  
_

_Things are about to get interesting ;)_

**I do not own Pretty Little Liars.**

* * *

Emily, Hanna and Spencer all looked in shock at the small brunette in sweats on her bed.

"What do you mean you're not going?" Hanna demanded.

Spencer was on the same page. "Yeah you can't just _not go_."

Emily, always the passive one, was gentler. "What are you doing instead?"

"I don't know. I guess I'll just read these and inhale a gallon of Chunky Monkey." Aria claimed with a shrug, referring to the magazines the girls had brought over.

Since her mom had found out about the affair, she had barely left her house and most likely her room. The three had come over to stage a somewhat intervention, bringing take-out and 'rag mags' and instructing her to change out of the sweats that would soon become part of her anatomy if she didn't take them off soon. They knew she was hurting and wanted to do their best to cheer her up, but the news about her not attending homecoming was disappointing. She used to always be up for these sorts of things.

"Hey, look, cutting yourself from the rest of your life is not going to help your parents. And besides, they might still work it out." Spencer reminded her supportively.

Aria sighed. "They're barely speaking to each other."

"People get angry, they blow up—it doesn't mean it's over."

Hanna cut in then. "Emily, they didn't blow up over her dad missing their anniversary, he slept with one of his students." Realizing she had been a little too blunt again about the sensitive subject, she turned back to Aria. "Sorry."

Emily continued her original point. "I'm just saying… things can look over on Friday and by Monday all is forgiven. Some things just take time."

"Yeah. Maybe." Aria replied, not seeming very convinced.

"Okay, so you're coming! C'mon!" Spencer exclaimed, grabbing her hands to drag her out of bed, causing Aria to laugh at her a little.

"I'll think about it."

"Well, if you're not coming can you at least cast an absentee ballot?" Hanna prompted.

The three in the middle of the room chuckled in disbelief at her campaigning.

"What?! I need her vote!"

Spencer rolled her eyes at her. "Hanna, stop already. You've got Homecoming Queen on lock."

"Really? You can rig the election?" Hanna asked, looking excited.

"Sorry, I have enough to do already, thanks. I'm the head of the committee, half of which is out with the flu, so I'll be restocking the ice and refilling the hummus bowl and trying to look cute for my first official date." she trailed off, smiling bashfully, knowing they had all caught that last bit.

"With Alex?" Emily inquired, clearly interested by this new piece of gossip.

Spencer nodded, biting her lip.

"Wait, you're bringing him to homecoming? So this IS real?" Aria said in surprise, looking just as excited, and Spencer nodded again, feeling the red coming to her cheeks at all of the attention.

"Look at her blush!" Hanna teased.

"Stop!" the one they were all teasing instructed, contemplating burying her face in a pillow.

"Damn, now I have to come." Aria taunted, digging into her chow mein.

"But seriously you guys, he's not going to know anybody there, so can you just do your best to make him feel included?" Spencer asked pleadingly. Alex had said he was fine with it, but she knew how intimidating it could be to be surrounded by tons of people that you couldn't even put a name to. Plus, with her doing committee duties all night, there would be times he might be left to himself with her friends and she wanted to make sure he didn't feel too abandoned.

"No, we were planning on freezing him out." Hanna said sarcastically.

Spencer rolled her eyes at her, but felt a lot better about things. "Okay, moving on. Em, who are you gonna bring?"

"I think I'm going to go stag." Emily admitted easily.

"I will too." Aria told her, touching her arm briefly before grabbing more food.

"Why don't you guys come together? Oh, you'd make such a cute couple." Spencer teased.

"How did I go from wearing mom jeans to being Samantha Ronson?" Aria asked, causing Spencer to laugh, but when she looked over to Hanna she saw she and Emily were both looking a little awkward. Samantha Ronson was a girl in their grade who shaved her head, wore suspenders and ties, and publicly made out with her girlfriend whenever she could as if she had something to prove.

"Who cares who anyone goes to this thing with? I mean, it's just a dance. You should bring someone that you have fun with." the blonde announced defiantly.

Emily spoke up now. "I might want to go with someone. I just don't want people thinking it means more than it does."

Spencer was surprised. Did this mean… "Are you and Ben back together?" She was ready to go into full daughter-of-a-lawyer mode if that was the case.

"No. No, of course not." she reassured her, the shadow of those last memories clearly crossing her mind as proven by her expression.

"So… who's the mystery dude?" Aria was still wondering.

Hanna cut in again, changing the subject completely for the second time. "I'm starving!" She dove forward to grab the fortune cookies and cracked one open, her mouth forming an 'o' as she read the words. She looked bothered.

"What's wrong? Bad fortune?" Emily teased.

Spencer smirked. "Yeah, Confucius says 'stop being such a drama queen'."

"_Lions and tigers and bitches, oh my. There's no place like homecoming. See you there. –A_" Hanna read out.

Spencer, Emily and Aria all lunged for their fortune cookies to see the same message reflecting back at them.

Looks like it wouldn't just be the chip bowls and punch Spencer would have to worry about at homecoming.

* * *

After having dinner with her friends and discussing homecoming, Spencer realized that maybe she should talk to Toby. She had been trying to avoid him the best she could, especially after how confusing things had been lately, but since this thing with Alex seemed to be going somewhere, she didn't want to leave him in the dark any longer. She knew she felt guilty with Alex, even though she had no reason to, and that if she told Toby and he didn't care, she'd know for sure she made the right decision.

"Spencer." his voice surprised her as he stood from his porch. She hadn't seen him behind the bush from her angle.

She approached the end of the staircase, forcing a smile.

"Hey. I just wanted to um… talk to you about something…"

Now that she was here she felt like a moron. Toby had told her to move on, they had broken up over a year ago, and still she was seeking, what, _permission_ from him so that she could date Alex…?

"Okay." Toby said, gesturing her to sit next to him.

But she knew that would be a bad idea. Just seeing him was causing her heartbeats to increase.

"Um, I'd actually rather stand…" she said awkwardly.

Toby watched her carefully, his eyes zoning in on her face and she knew he was trying to figure her out.

"Um… I just didn't want you to hear this from someone else."

_That is if you aren't –A_, the voice in her head added inwardly, even though it wasn't entirely convinced of that potential either.

She took a deep breath. "I've started seeing someone new. His name is Alex. I met him at the country club my family is a member of and we just sort of … hit it off I guess. I thought you should know."

"Why?"

There was that guarded, angry nature that was becoming more common lately. Spencer looked to the ground. Apparently that almost kiss the other day had been her reading into things. If he had wanted to kiss her, he wouldn't be wondering why in the hell she wanted him to know of her changed relationship status.

"I know things haven't been … normal between us for quite some time, but I felt like this is something a normal ex-girlfriend would do." she defended.

Toby looked away from her. "Ex…" he said slowly, like he had never considered the word when in fact the single syllable had haunted him the past twelve months.

Spencer wasn't sure what was going through his mind, but she knew that she wasn't going to risk being unclear about this. "I thought you should know since you were the one who told me to move on. And I think it's time _both_ of us moved on." she tacked on at the end for good measure, even though her heart hated her for it.

He wasn't looking at her, but he nodded. "Right. Well congratulations. I hope he makes you happy."

Spencer felt her tears building as she turned away. Toby wasn't looking at her, so clearly he really didn't care enough to talk to her, even if they did have that moment the other day in the men's bathroom.

"He does." she half-lied.

But she knew there was a possibility that Alex would never make her happy the way Toby did.

Committing to her new life, Spencer walked away from Toby, unaware that he was watching her retreating back with as painful of a heart as she had.

It really was over.

* * *

The next day at lunch, Spencer was nearly knocking people over in her efforts to find Hanna. She was racing through the hallways, eager to share the sight she had just seen.

Finally spotting her sitting in the cafeteria, Spencer practically collapsed in the chair next to her, startling Hanna at her sudden appearance.

"Way to sneak up on people."

"Sorry. Look, can you get it today?" Spencer asked persistently.

"Get what?" the blonde asked in confusion. 'It' could refer to a lot of things.

"Jenna's file." she said, as if it was obvious. Hanna had stumbled upon a therapist office at the same building she was doing her community service for crashing Sean's car after Noel's party the other night and had seen Jenna on the elevator. She had been applying Jungle-Red-coloured lipstick and it was just too much of a coincidence for them to ignore. They had made the decision to sneak in and steal the file, but the problem was that there were always people hanging around.

"No. They cancelled my shift at work." Hanna explained, snapping shut her compact.

"So? Go in anyway. It's a therapist's office. Pretend you're having a nervous breakdown." Spencer suggested wildly.

"Well if I lose the crown to Heather Perez I won't have to pretend!" Hanna said, glaring at the girl handing out buttons a few tables over.

Spencer tried to get her to see sense. "Hanna, I'm serious. That file might be our only chance to find out what Jenna knows about that night. And if she and her step-brother are plotting revenge—"

"Spence, I'll get it. Why the panic attack? Because of the fortune cookie?" she asked, referring to their surprising fortunes from –A the night before.

"It's because _Toby Cavanaugh_ just bought two tickets to homecoming…" Spencer said pointedly.

Hanna, unfortunately, did not understand right away. "You don't think he'll ask you, do you?"

"No! Han, it's over between us. We've set each other straight—there's nothing between us anymore. I'm-I'm with Alex now anyways." she said quickly.

Hanna shrugged.

"Who ELSE might Toby bring…?" Spencer added, saying it slowly like she was speaking a different language.

Hanna's eyes went wide. "So Jenna's coming too."

"Well A did promise to see us there, right?" Spencer reminded her, glad she had finally caught on. She really didn't want to have to spell it out for her. Even just saying Jenna's name brought bile into her throat.

"Hey Hanna. Spencer." Mona's sing-song voice came and she descended across from them at the table. "So is it true you're taking the country club's towel boy to homecoming?"

Oh this girl picked the wrong day to start something. "His name is Alex, and yes I am." Spencer said, her teeth gritting.

"Knock it off, Mona." Hanna scolded.

"What? I think it's cute that she's taking her Cinder-fella to the ball." Mona simpered.

Hanna still wasn't happy with her. "Can you get me fro-yo? WITH sprinkles?"

Mona looked like her feathers had been ruffled and pouted as she left to follow the queen bee's orders.

Spencer watched her leave with distaste. "Wow, that was exactly the reaction I want to avoid."

"Don't pay any attention to her. She's just insecure." Hanna interjected.

"Like a pitbull. Why are you friends with her?"

Spencer had always been curious, but had never really had the opportunity to ask. Hanna, although she could be very brazen, had always been such a sweet girl. She didn't see what was appealing about a bully like Mona.

"Once you get to know her she's really funny. And she's always there for me, even if it's just to watch me try on shoes. Look, she's a good person. She just talks tough so people will forget what a geek she used to be." she explained.

Spencer spotted Toby and quickly slapped Hanna's thigh to get her attention away from memory lane and onto their new target. Had he heard them talking about him?

"OW! Okay, you need to chillax, or I need to start carrying a tranq gun." Hanna complained, batting her off.

"Shh!" she hissed, worried Toby would hear.

He suddenly lifted his phone up to read his recent message and his t-shirt got dragged up a few inches in the process. Was he texting Jenna to tell her he had the tickets?

She spotted a marking above his hipbone. It was a black script tattoo that read _901 Free At Last_.

"What _is_ that?!" Hanna demanded in a hushed whisper, looking spooked.

Spencer simply gaped. She didn't remember seeing that back when she and Toby were dating, which meant it must be new.

But what did it mean? Free from what? And what significance were those numbers?

* * *

Toby had been a little … perturbed by his discussion with Spencer last night. He had been hoping, with Emily's help, he'd be able to win back Spencer. But now that he knew she had a boyfriend, he knew his chances were becoming even slimmer than before. He had yet to talk to Emily about Spencer because he hadn't wanted to ruin the friendship brewing between them, but now he wondered if he should even bother.

Emily had proven to be a lot more intriguing than he had originally figured. Spending time with her was such a nice break from reality, and he really found her easy to talk to. He actually found himself laughing with her, something he hadn't figured anyone in this town could really do besides Spencer.

He finally spotted the brunette he had been looking for heading down the hall and went to meet her. "Hi. I was about to look for you."

Emily seemed surprised. "You were? How come?"

His nerves finally kicked in, hard. "Well… I wanted to talk to you about something. Um… do you want to hang out tomorrow?" he asked slowly, trying to work up to his question but never having done anything like this before.

"I would, but I can't. I'm going with my friends to homecoming." she explained apologetically.

"That's too bad. I… I was hoping you'd go with me." he finally managed to get out.

Her expression would've been hilarious if he hadn't been about to pass out.

"To homecoming? I… I didn't think that was your scene." She looked almost as if she was about to laugh.

"I have a scene? I didn't think listening to The Smiths alone in my room was a scene." he joked, finding pleasure in the way he could pull a smile out of her so easily.

"You know what I mean." she replied, shifting her books and looking a little uncomfortable.

He was starting to clue in that the answer he was hoping for wasn't coming any time soon. She was subtly rejecting him as nicely as she could, trying to change the subject. He had enough games after dealing with Alison and Jenna for so long and he wasn't looking to play anymore.

"I think what you mean is that you don't want to go with me." he said bluntly.

"No, it's not that. It's just… I would've thought you'd think homecoming was lame." she clarified.

Well that was a nicer option. And she definitely had a point.

"It is pretty lame. But you're not."

He saw her blush and hid his smile.

"Okay." she said finally, and he knew that was his yes.

"So… I'll pick you up at nine." he suggested.

"Okay. But it starts at eight." Emily added amusedly.

He scrunched his nose at her. Why did these dances start so early when they went so late? Who actually wants to dance for four hours? "Lame."

He said goodbye to her and headed towards his class, resisting the urge to skip a little in pride. He had just successfully asked Emily Fields out. He knew he'd have fun with her, but he felt a little bad that it was Spencer's expression he was imagining when he arrived rather than picturing the fun evening he'd have with his friend that crossed his mind first. Spencer wanted him to move on, so here he was, moving on.

A part of him knew he was being selfish, using Emily that way, but another part of him was reminding him that he had expected Emily to say no. He had suspicions that she had building feelings for Maya, but he hadn't seen them spending time together which only made him feel like something must have happened between them that led to a falling out. Maybe Emily liked both boys and girls, or maybe she was trying to convince herself to like boys, but Toby had to reason that Emily might be using him too. And the truth was, he really did want to go to homecoming with Emily. It's just the fact that he'd rather it be Spencer he'd be picking up that made him feel like a jerk.

Deciding he had to make the most of this, Toby was determined for tomorrow night to count for something, with either girl. Maybe he really could move on with Emily and this dance would be a catalyst for it. Or maybe he'd realize that he'd never be able to move on from Spencer and then he'd start fighting for her harder than ever.

All he knew was that tomorrow was more than just a dance. It was the start of something big; he just wasn't sure what yet.

* * *

Spencer was running her to-do list through her mind as she painted the beam, making sure she hadn't forgotten to do anything. It was a lot of work to pull together a Rosewood High dance, but even more so when half of the committee members weren't around to help. She really had to step it up a notch if she was going to get all of this done by tomorrow.

"Hey. Need any help?" a familiar voice called.

She turned to see her curly-haired sort of boyfriend. "You're a little early. The dance doesn't start for 27 hours." she greeted.

"I wanted to do a dry run. Test out the route, time myself door to door…"

Her eyes lit up. "You sound like me."

"Yeah, but _I_ was joking." he teased.

She had to laugh, blushing a little. "Oh."

"I'm about to buy a suit and I wanted to know what colour your dress is so we can match." he explained, settling in front of her finally.

She immediately felt guilty. She knew Alex worked hard for his money, which meant he probably wasn't exactly rolling in it, and the last thing she'd want is for him to spend money on something that was for just one night. She had plenty of dresses to choose from, and if need be, she could buy another later tonight. "Don't bother. I'll match my outfit to yours. Just wear whatever you have."

"Okay, we can't both show up in jeans and a t-shirt." he told her, looking at her pointedly.

The slender brunette sighed. "Are you sure that you want to?"

"Yes. I want to. It's a good excuse to buy a suit. And here." he added, pulling out a small wad of bills.

She backed up on reflex. "What's that for?"

"The tickets." he said as if it was obvious.

"No, don't worry about it. This is my treat. I know how hard you work. I just I don't want you to spend your money on some stupid dance." she explained, her voice growing vulnerable at the end, her guilt shining clear through.

"Well, tough luck because I want to." he told her, stepping into her personal bubble and wrapping his arm around her waist so he could push the bills into her back pocket.

Her breath caught at his close proximity and the intimate position.

"I'm wearing a silver strapless dress." she told him breathily, trying to keep her eyes on his and away from his lips. His eyes, however, kept drifting.

"Can't wait to see you in it." he said sincerely, his eyes crinkling as he smiled, and she knew if she didn't do something soon, he would kiss her right there.

Without thinking it completely through, she fake-swiped at him with her paint brush covered in brown and he backed up as he laughed at her antics. She grinned at him playfully, covering up her intimidation well and acting as if she meant to be a tease about it.

"See you tomorrow." she said.

He nodded. "See you tomorrow." And with that he left the cafeteria to let her get back to work.

Spencer had a desire to lean against the beam she had just painted, but she didn't want to get even more paint all over her plaid shirt and jean shorts.

It's not that she didn't want to kiss Alex—he was very cute and extremely sweet, but she felt this panic fill her every time he got close. It's not as though he hadn't tried to kiss her before. But like today, he didn't pressure her much, just got close and let her lead the way. But she hadn't reciprocated yet. It was just … when she kissed him, it meant that what Toby and she had was really over. She knew that. And she wanted that.

Didn't she?

* * *

Toby had picked up Emily at the time they had agreed on and she looked beautiful in her royal blue dress. Her hair was in waves, her make-up pretty, and her feet strapped with silver heels. He smiled when she got in the car and they talked through the tracks of the CD she had made him. He always kept it in the car now when they hung out.

Once at the school, Toby was starting to realize how bad of an idea this was. Forget Spencer—the rest of the school hated him, as well as all of Emily's friends especially. He knew Spencer hadn't failed to mention the details of their break-up and she would be there with Alex. He had originally wanted to scope out this new guy, see how serious they were, but hanging out with Emily to do so would only make things ridiculously uncomfortable for everyone.

Yep. This was a horrible idea.

"You know they're showing a Fritz-Lang double-feature at Rosewood Cinema tonight. If we leave now, we'd only miss the credits." he suggested as they approached the doors.

Emily chuckled. "I might be a little overdressed." she reminded him, gesturing down at her semi-formal attire.

"This may sound stupid, but I've never been to one of these things before." he admitted quietly.

"What are you so nervous about?" She realized the reason behind his fear before she even finished her sentence. "Meeting up with my friends."

"Who think I'm a freak." he interjected.

"Not all of them. I mean, they'll get over it, because they want me to be happy." she added quickly, which made him feel like she was referring to Spencer, although he couldn't be sure. He doubted Spencer would be happy with anything to do with him anymore. "It's just a party. You know, if we get hungry, we eat some chips, have some punch."

Toby had to laugh. These parties were so lame. "Punch? Really? Are we going to jitterbug too?"

"You don't have to dance." Emily pacified, smiling kindly.

He should've said something before, but he definitely wasn't afraid to tell her now. "Good. Because I don't."

Emily smirked. "Okay. So how about you stand there and do this?" she suggested, beginning to bounce on the balls of her feet and move her arms back and forth. "And I'll dance around you."

As he attempted, he could feel his face flaming at the failure he was portraying. He was not physically capable of dancing. "I think I'd rather drink the punch."

His date laughed. "Okay."

She took his hand and began leading him inside, not letting him run like his feet were begging him to.

Here goes nothing.

* * *

Spencer was starting to breathe and relax now that they were an hour into the dance. She had only had to do a quick touch-ups around the dance so far and her friends had warmed up really nicely to Alex. The boys even were discussing things with him now, which made Spencer very grateful. She wanted him to fit in, not just for her own selfish reasons, but to make him feel more comfortable in such a foreign environment. He was so sweet for coming with her to this. She would have to find a proper way to thank him for it later.

Spotting Aria rejoining their group only about ten minutes after she had left for the bean toss booth, she became concerned, especially by the expression on her face. "Hey that was a quick shift? You okay?"

Aria looked pretty bothered. "No, my claustrophobia kicked in. Can you find someone to take my place?"

Spencer felt a pang for her friend. She was dealing with a lot lately, and now this. She was probably embarrassed in front of their English teacher who practically every girl in their grade had a small thing for. "Yeah. Alone in a dark booth with Fitz? It's like every freshman girl's dream." she told her reassuringly, not wanting her to feel bad.

Maya suddenly approached, addressing the blonde but smiling at all of them. "Hey Hanna."

They all greeted her back friendlily. They may not know her too well, but they knew that she was a pretty cool girl from the few times they had met her.

"Have you seen Emily?" Maya asked.

Hanna sifted through her clutch for her phone. "No, I was just about to text her."

Aria stopped her, staring in surprise at the entrance of the gym. "Hey, don't bother."

Spencer and the others followed her gaze and saw that Emily was entering the gym with Toby Cavanaugh.

And they were holding hands.


	16. Chapter 16

_PLEASE hang in there. Don't jump down my throat for this chapter. Things get intense and tensions run high, but it's all part of the fun. Spoby is endgame, always, so please don't leave me yet! Let me just say it seems worse than it is.  
_

_For those of you that are not on Spencer's side, feel free to hate me for this chapter. I tried to make her paranoia and doubts justifiable, but I know I haven't convinced all of you. I'll work on it. But next chapter things turn around, trust me._

_I know some of you really aren't happy with the pace of this story and just want Spoby to be together again but after this chapter they will start taking those steps towards finding each other again. I know you're impatient and I'm sorry, but their time will come and I will make it worth the wait._

_Thank you for the feedback! :) Love you guys!_

**I do not own Pretty Little Liars.**

* * *

Spencer's stomach dropped right out of her body, she swore. The lurch in her middle at the sight of her best friend and her ex-boyfriend's hands intertwined made her want to scream and vomit at the same time. Without realizing, her hand had tightened in Alex's and she concentrated on not charging over to the pair.

Emily led Toby through the throng of people and Spencer noticed that he was looking just as scared as he should based on her level of rage. She was ready to take one of the toy shotguns from the games booths to his head.

Oblivious, Alex broke away to get into a discussion with the boys and it was just the three girls waiting to greet Emily and her date.

"Hey guys." she said, her hand still firmly in Toby's.

Not even a thin-lipped smile crossed any of their faces, all of their eyes trained on Toby, arms crossed, showing how guarded they all really were.

"I'll go get us some drinks." Toby told her in an undertone, locking gazes with Spencer for a moment. She was looking the most furious out of the three of them. He figured she would, but she had come to him to tell him to move on too, so she couldn't really say much.

Once he was out of earshot, she rounded on Emily. "You're here with Toby?!"

Aria was next on the execution team. "Either you have some genius plan of sleeping with the enemy or you've lost your mind!"

"_You_ don't even know him." Emily promised the smaller one, but Spencer wasn't having any of that.

"What is there to know that _I_ don't already? Who else could have helped Jenna? Have you forgotten everything I've been saying about him lately? Those aren't lies, Emily! He hates me! He hates ALL of us!"

"No he doesn't." she argued.

Hanna jumped in the ring. "Emily, if it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, it's a frikin' duck!"

Out of all the blows she had just had, that one seemed to hurt her the most. "Wow. I thought at least YOU'D understand."

Emily stormed away, but Hanna followed her. They were speaking much quieter, but Emily seemed very surprised by whatever Hanna was saying to her.

"I hope she's talking some sense into her." Spencer growled to Aria.

"Hey, are you okay? I know you keep saying things are over and I know you're with Alex now but-"

"I'm fine." Spencer lied. "I just don't want Toby manipulating Emily. Things just have been so confusing with him lately. He fights with me and says stuff that makes me sure he hates me even more than he did the night we broke up, but then there are moments that… I wonder…"

"Wonder what?" Aria asked curiously.

Spencer mentally shook herself. "Nothing. He didn't try to stop me when I told him I found someone new, so I'm just being an idiot."

Aria wasn't so sure about that, but she kept her mouth shut. She had seen the way Toby's eyes found Spencer's and held on. She didn't believe it was over, but she also really didn't trust the guy anymore. There was too much chaos with Jenna and Alison for her to feel safe around someone that was so connected to both of them. And frankly, she understood why he would hate them. They had sent him to reform school for a year and god knows how torturous that was.

As Aria got lost in her own thoughts, Spencer realized that she couldn't just sit idly by. Spotting Toby at the food table, she marched over to him determinedly.

* * *

Toby had grabbed drinks of punch, which he hoped wasn't spiked since he was feeling nervous enough already, although maybe it would take the edge off, and turned in direction to where Emily was arguing with Hanna.

He knew her friends wouldn't be the happiest with her for coming with him, but he hadn't meant to cause so many problems. Things had only been one step down from his nightmares over what could happen when they arrived.

Before he could decide whether he should stand awkwardly and wait there, or get closer, Spencer was practically charging at him. He put the drinks down, knowing this wasn't going to be good.

"What in the hell, Toby?" she barked at him, causing a couple nearby to look affronted at her outburst. They moved away when she sent them a glare strong enough to kill.

His jaw set. "How's your country club boyfriend?" he asked, changing the subject.

"Oh, you're handling this so maturely." she grumbled. "Alex WORKS at the country club. He is not particularly wealthy. He goes to public school across town."

That actually surprised Toby. When she had mentioned that they met at the club he figured Alex was a rich, doctor-to-be or some other highly regulated professional.

"That's none of my business." Toby commented, even though he had been burning to know more about the guy that Spencer had been holding hands with.

"Well you know what _is_ my business? _You_ going to a dance with my BEST friend!"

"YOU'RE the one who told me to move on!" he reminded her.

Spencer groaned in annoyance. "Oh my god, Toby, you told me to first! You told me to find someone else! Your feelings on Wren were pretty clear, but Alex is closer to my age, so he should fit your bill of approval, huh?" She was breathing so hard in and out that she had to stop for a moment. "Look. I only told you about Alex because I wanted to respect the relationship we had, but clearly you don't care about me and just want to continue to hurt me. So I get it, Toby. Consider the job done."

With one final glare, she stormed away.

Toby exhaled, feeling even worse than he had when she had first told him about Alex. He hadn't really thought his actions through far enough. Of course Spencer would think he had asked Emily _maliciously_, to hurt her even more than showing up with another random girl. That wasn't the reason for choosing Emily specifically, but he could understand why she had thought so. The truth was that Emily was his only friend these days, only girl who would even look at him without cringing, and the only one he had any desire to spend significant time with besides the one who had just torn his head off about it. He knew it wasn't a wise decision, but his hurt feelings had taken the wheel and now he realized he had dug himself even further down into her bad books. There was probably no getting out of this one. He had planned to talk to Emily about Spencer tonight, but now he had to if he had any hope of reviving their relationship one day.

Speaking of Emily, she was still talking to Hanna. She only looked more miserable than she had the last time he looked at her.

Seeing Emily's upset face, he felt a surge of protectiveness and came over to interrupt and rescue her.

He caught the last of her sentence to Hanna. "Maya? Why would I take Maya?"

"Hey." he said, causing Hanna to fall silent and look uncomfortable. Emily finally looked at him, clearly upset by the conversation she had been having with her friend. "Want to go play some games?"

She nodded and accepted the drink he offered, leaving Hanna and leading him over to the booths.

He was worried that he'd be the one who would have to start conversation all night, since her mind was clearly elsewhere, but she quickly was out of her funk and was as easygoing and sweet as she had been outside of the school when he admitted how nervous he was.

He put his hand on hers at one point. "I'm sorry I caused so many problems."

He wasn't referring to just the problems he had caused _her_. His mind was still stuck on the furious and hurt look on Spencer's face when she had confronted him.

She shook her head, smiling. "Don't worry about it. I shouldn't have surprised them with it. I knew they'd need time to come around to the idea. It's fine. They'll get over it, like I said."

He wasn't so sure of that. He could feel their glares of hate from across the room and he wasn't even looking at them.

Emily caught his disbelieving look and squeezed his hand. "Hey, I wouldn't have said yes if I wasn't sure I wanted to come to this thing with you. Don't look so guilty."

He smiled at that, and she relaxed.

"Come on, I bet I can beat you at this one." she teased him, leading him by the hand down the row to the ring toss.

He happily obliged.

* * *

Spencer, however, was not having as easygoing of a time. She headed back over to Aria, who didn't say a word about her exploding at Toby, and as soon as Hanna rejoined, she immediately jumped in for answers.

"Did I miss something? When did she start hanging out with Toby?" Spencer hissed. Why did Emily fail to mention this?

Okay, their reactions were probably a good clue why she hadn't… but still! Emily knew, better than the other girls, just how upset Spencer had been about breaking things off with Toby and she brought him as a date to a dance she knew Spencer would be at. But when Emily said she and Toby were lab partners, she had looked so uncomfortable and upset, that they all only felt sympathy for her. They never would've guessed that she started voluntarily hanging out with him. And there was no way, without having spent some prior time getting to know each other, that they would've agreed to come to this thing together. Plus Emily had said so herself that they didn't know him, implying that she in fact did.

But did she not listen to the warnings Spencer had given her?!

"I have no idea. I've never even seen her talk to him." Aria inputted, shaking her head.

The boys finally came back over. "There you are; you keep disappearing on us." Sean teased, reaching for Hanna.

His girlfriend forced a smile. "Yeah, we had to uh… get ice." she fibbed.

Alex smiled at Spencer, dragging her eyes away from the pair across the room laughing together. "Hey, wanna dance?"

"Let's do it." she told him, finally remembering that she had a perfect, sweet, adorable boyfriend who was here for her. She didn't need Toby.

Once on the dance floor, Alex held her closer than she expected, and she leaned her head on his shoulder, quickly wrapping her arms around him more like a hug.

They swayed to the music, not talking. It was peaceful, the band was pretty decent, and Alex didn't seem afraid to touch her like some guys could when they danced. She was actually surprised he had offered to dance. Most guys weren't a huge fan, unless it was a fast dance and they were getting grinded against. But that was testosterone for you.

She was glad Alex was different.

Since they had begun dating, she had been happy with her decision to take a leap and get to know him. He was a very genuine guy and wasn't afraid to offer his opinion even if he knew it would disagree with hers. She really liked that in anyone, but especially a boyfriend.

They had hung out several times now, mostly going to movies or dinner or doing the same sort of thing in his basement or at her place when her parents were out, and she liked how things were. They were very no strings attached and easygoing, which she needed after everything that had been going on lately.

It also helped that he had told her she looked beautiful when she picked him up earlier that evening.

Spencer let her eyes scan the crowd, watching other couples dancing or talking on the sidelines. Toby and Emily were still playing games and seemed to be having a good time. She quickly averted her gaze only to settle on a couple making out in the corner, the guy's shirt untucked and his hip exposed as the pair made out passionately. Wrinkling her nose in distaste at the PDA, she continued scanning the crowd, remembering back to earlier in the cafeteria when she and Hanna had seen Toby's tattoo in that same area.

What did it mean, free at last? Free from _what_? And what could those numbers mean? A code? A date? A birthday? An anniversary? A-

Spencer's heart stopped beating. She knew what it meant.

No, no, it couldn't be. She knew he didn't like Alison much, but would he really celebrate Ali's disappearance by getting it emblazoned on his skin forever, knowing she was most likely dead? Unless the tattoo was only a few weeks old, in which he would be positive that Alison was dead since they didn't find her body until then.

Oh god.

What if he knew before then? What if…

No, Toby couldn't have. He may not have been a fan of Alison, but who was? The Toby she knew would never have hurt anyone, least of all killed someone. Plus, he had been away at reform school the night she…

No.

No.

No.

Toby hadn't been away that night, had he? She had fought with him that night. That was the night he broke her heart. Spencer had mentally marked that night down as the worst night of her life, but she had never connected the two reasons for why. Toby hadn't seemed to even want to talk to her when she had called out to him. Was it because he wasn't looking for her? He was seeking Alison, but found that she was with others and that he couldn't strike then? It explained why he was so frustrated with her and off when she spoke with him. He had seemed so different. Was he in some homicidal craze?! Did that explain how bipolar he had been since he got back?

Spencer broke away from Alex apologetically and numbly grabbed Hanna and Aria, taking them out of earshot and up the few steps so they could be alone.

She was trying to remember to breathe. Her lungs felt paralyzed.

"Spencer…" Aria began worriedly, seeing how terrified her friend was.

"I've figured out what Toby's tattoo means." she said before she could finish.

"What?" Hanna demanded.

"_901 Free At Last_ – its September 1st." Spencer informed them, trying to control her voice from its shaking.

"That's the day Ali disappeared." Aria immediately recognized. She turned to the blonde. "Hanna, you've got to get that file."

"Tonight?" Hanna asked exasperatedly.

"Emily's not going to believe us without proof. She could be walking into a trap." Spencer exclaimed.

"Can we do it after they announce Homecoming Queen, please?" The looks the other two sent her assured her that no, that was not an option. "Okay, fine! Fine, I'll get it. Keep an eye on Emily until I get the file."

"Wait, what about me?" Aria piped up before she could disappear.

Hanna was already heading towards the door. "Keep an eye on Sean." she invented.

"What?"

"I can't exactly tell him where I'm going, and if I make up an excuse, he'll want to go with me. Just keep him busy!" Hanna called as she dug for her phone.

"How am I supposed to do that?"

"I don't know, just figure it out." she shouted before rounding the corner and disappearing from sight.

Aria shook her head in disbelief, still not sure what she was going to tell Sean, but headed down the stairs to start her mission. Spencer, meanwhile, was scanning the crowd for Emily and Toby. She finally spotted them at the back corner, just talking and drinking punch.

She suddenly caught on that Alex was in front of her and had said something. "What?"

"I asked if you wanted to go to the fortune teller." he repeated.

"Oh, um, no, I don't really think so, it's not really my kind of thing." Spencer said distractedly. Seeing that Toby and Emily were moving, she grabbed his hand and started heading towards the fortune teller where she would have a perfect view. "You know, on second thought, it might be kind of fun."

She forced a smile as they sat at the dolled up table.

Alex nominated her to have her fortune told first, and she played along as if she was interested, but her eyes were glued across the room.

The fortune teller was a dark-haired woman with a typical accent. "There's a lot of anxiety in these cards. Are you a worrier?"

Spencer didn't even hear her, not looking away from Emily and Toby. Did he just put his arm around her waist? Wait, could he have poisoned that punch? Was this going to be like Snow White except with dance punch? Was he going to drag her into the back and bury her outside in the soccer field?

"Spencer?"

Alex was trying to get her attention back.

She looked across the table finally at the woman. "Um, yeah, I guess so."

Her eyes reverted back to the pair, but Emily had excused herself from Toby and was talking with Maya now. It surprisingly looked heated.

Good! Hopefully Maya was talking some sense into her. Maybe she would be more likely to listen to Maya. Spencer was feeling a lot more confident about this now. She liked Maya! She made a mental note to invite her to more things with the girls in the future.

Where was Toby? Wait, who was he talking to that she couldn't see?

"This indicates a journey. It's unclear whether it's a journey from the past or in the future, but I'm seeing an image. They could be taking care of someone. They could be… hurt."

The last two sentences certainly caught her attention. Spencer swiveled back, not needing Alex to probe her this time.

"What else do they say?"

Her attention was solely on the woman's words now, blindly trusting Maya to stay with Emily.

"When this card is reversed, it indicates something from which you are running away." she told her. "The Lovers is a joyful card, but paired with Judgment and it means there's something wrong with this couple. It's a bad match. Here, there's darkness in him. Maybe even violence. Or vengeance." She flipped another card.

Spencer felt a chill pass through her veins at the marker writing on the skeleton card: _Kiss Bye Bye to your BFF_.

"Where did this come from?" The fortune teller clearly had not seen this before and Alex looked as intrigued.

Panicked, Spencer looked back up to see that Maya was alone and Emily and Toby were gone.

* * *

Toby had approached the sunglasses-donned step-sister that he spotted sitting idly in the middle of the gym. He didn't understand why she had come… and he really didn't want to.

But his curiosity got the better of him and he headed in her direction.

"Jenna." he stated.

"Toby." she replied warmly, smiling like the cat that got the canary. "I was hoping I'd run into you. Where's your date?"

He shifted his weight uncomfortably. "Talking to her friend. They looked like they needed privacy."

"Hmm. You still haven't given me the name of your date."

"And I don't plan to. It's none of your business."

"Actually Toby, you see, it _is_ my business. Because you and I had a deal… you stay away from Alison's old friends and I don't tell our parents that you're back to your old ways… It'll only be easier to believe that you're forcing yourself on me when I'm blind." she hissed.

He swallowed, feeling uncomfortable. It hadn't really been a _deal_ of sorts; the real word for it was blackmail. But Jenna would be Jenna.

Toby suddenly noticed Emily leaving the gym, looking very upset after she had been talking to Maya. Even though her friends had clearly been jumping down her throat earlier, he knew that last conversation had upset her the most.

"You might as well tell them then. Because I'm here with Emily Fields." he told her before walking away to search for Emily.

He slipped out of the gym to find her, spotting her standing alone in the cafeteria. He didn't want to interrupt her personal moment, but he also wanted to check on her.

"You okay?"

Emily turned around and shook her head.

"You wanna talk about it?" he asked.

She opened her mouth to respond, but a bunch of teenagers laughing and carrying on passed by them outside of the window and they both realized how little privacy there was at their current location. There was also a couple making out on a bench which was making him increasingly uncomfortable.

He had an idea. "Why don't we go upstairs to the chem lab? It's quiet up there."

Toby held out his hand and she took it graciously, letting him lead her away.

* * *

Spencer was looking around wildly still, hoping they had just ducked behind another couple or were so involved in a game that she swept right past them. They had to be here, right?

"What's going on? You seem distracted." Alex asked.

Spencer was about to answer when her phone started ringing. Maybe it was Emily calling for help! She pushed through her purse frantically. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I promise, this is the last time."

"The phone's not the problem. Maybe my work for the night's done."

It took her until now to realize how impatient Alex was. She realized she had been the worst date ever since Emily and Toby had arrived. Poor guy. But the last bit had her confused.

"What do you mean?"

He sighed. "Just go ahead, answer."

"I'm sorry. I'll just be a minute. Sorry." Spencer answered impatiently. "What is it?"

It was Hanna. "Hey, I'm looking under the entire M section and there's no Marshall."

"Check under Cavanaugh. She's Toby's step-sister; maybe his dad adopted her." she suggested quickly.

She could hear a distinct beeping between Hanna's words. "No, but- sorry, my phone's dying, what did you say?"

"I said '_check under Cavanaugh'_." Spencer repeated.

"But what if the-"

And then the line went dead.

"Hanna?"

No answer, so she knew her phone must have died. Hanging up, she turned back to Alex to find him gone. Melissa stepped into his previous place.

Well this couldn't be good.

"Where's Alex?" she asked.

Melissa looked incredibly smug. "He left."

"What do you mean?"

"He _left_. Do you need me to tweet it to you?" Melissa said coolly.

Spencer knew that wasn't the full story. Melissa would only be here to rub it in if she had helped set it up. He hadn't explained what he meant by his comment before, but Spencer bet Melissa was behind that. "What did you say to him?"

Melissa grinned. "I didn't have to say much. You screwed up this one all by yourself."

Spencer glared at her as she left. She was really getting sick of her sister constantly trying to make her miserable.

She had certainly learned her lesson from her experience with Wren.

Spencer had known that Melissa was going to cause trouble as soon as she found out her sister was subbing in for the previous Homecoming Queen that was sick, but she should've known she'd go straight for sabotaging her relationship with Alex.

After all, isn't that why she was so angry with Spencer in the first place, for doing the same thing?

Trying to hold it together, Spencer sought out Aria and hoped Hanna would arrive soon.

* * *

Toby and Emily entered the empty classroom, Toby watching her carefully.

"It's so weird to be here at night." she mused.

He knew it would be easier to change the subject, but he also knew that she probably needed somebody to talk to about before. "Want to talk about what happened?"

Emily bit her lip. "I just got upset."

"Did it have to do with Maya?"

"No." she began to say, but, seeing his disbelief, she changed her tune. "Yes."

"Emily… did you come with the wrong person to homecoming?" he asked kindly, knowing that he hadn't imagined the looks between the pair. Emily really was fighting her sexuality.

"Maybe." she admitted.

He smiled. "I understand." He felt a douse of guilt for confusing her more.

Emily suddenly became much surer of herself and asked him a rather blunt question that he wasn't expecting. "Why do you like me?"

"What?"

"Why are you _so_ nice to me when you know what me and my friends did?" she demanded.

"Oh. I guess it's because… I've also done things that I'm not proud of. We've all got secrets, Emily." he told her, and, thinking this was a good opportunity to bring up the truth about his past with Spencer, and Alison, he shut the chemistry door so they could have the privacy this would need.

* * *

Spencer was grateful when Hanna finally reappeared and gestured her and Aria over to read the file in hand.

For some reason, Lucas Gottesman was there and she kissed his cheek in thanks before dragging them away from the gym and into the mirror room.

"Is that Jenna's file?" Spencer asked.

"No. I got Toby's. It turns out Jenna _wasn't_ the patient. The therapist had her in for one session to see how she felt about Toby coming back home." Hanna explained.

Aria's eyes went wide. "Oh my god. Well what else does it say?"

"Well the dates prove he wasn't away at school when Ali disappeared. He was still here in Rosewood."

Spencer already knew that. "Well, what else?"

"See for yourself." Hanna said, handing over the folder.

"Session 12, August 15." Aria read, and then followed up by explaining, in detail, Toby's retelling of The Jenna Thing. The therapist, however, was under the interpretation that it was Toby that was forcing himself on Jenna and who had started the fire. They figured as much, since he agreed to go to reform school so he would have to keep up that lie, but what about the part about Jenna? Was that true?

Spencer's head was spinning. Had everything she had known about Toby been a lie? Was that mark on his arm the result of her clinging to him, not letting him go, or trying to get him the hell off of her?

She was going to be sick. Toby had always been so gentle and respectful and sweet. He was cautious around her, not wanting to push her too far. There was no way that was an act, right?

The other two were oblivious to Spencer's sudden nauseous and swirling thoughts. After all, they had only met Toby briefly, so believing him to be a sociopath or cruel was a lot easier for them to wrap their head around.

"So that's what Ali had on him?" Spencer asked in astonishment.

"It's enough to want her dead." Hanna noted, referring to the fact that his parents and everyone else had no idea about the step-siblings forced relationship.

Aria nodded, looking rightfully freaked out. "And us." Suddenly remembering why they had gone for the file, she cried out. "Emily!"

She dialed her number quickly.

* * *

Emily's phone began ringing and she sifted through her purse.

Toby knew his time was running out. The girls had no doubt noticed they were gone and based on the way Spencer had chewed him out and the others glared at him, he knew they would drag her away before he could get his explanation out.

"Can you please not answer that?" he begged.

Emily looked guarded now, much like her friends had when they first arrived. "Why?"

"Because I'm trying to find a way to tell you about what happened last summer. I want you to hear it from me." he told her slowly so she would understand just how important this was.

He needed her to know the real reason why he went to reform school, why he broke up with Spencer, and why he had dragged her up here away from everyone in the first place.

It all came down to Spencer. And if Emily would hear him out, he might actually have a chance.

* * *

Aria was beginning to panic, which only fueled the other two's emotions. "She's not picking up!"

"Text her!" Spencer instructed.

"We have to find her. Come on!" Hanna told them, leading them out into the hall to search the school. They couldn't have gone far.

Emily was watching him warily. "Toby, you're scaring me. Please stop."

He felt confused. "I haven't said anything yet."

Emily brushed past him. "Please stop talking."

He grasped her arm to stop her.

"So you're allowed to be honest but I'm not?" he asked sadly. This was not going well. Why was she so freaked out? Was she starting to believe what everyone else already did?

A text suddenly popped up on Emily's phone. He could read it from their intertwined position since it was face up.

_You're with Ali's killer! We have proof…_

He was shocked, but even angrier. What kind of proof? And how dare they accuse him of something! He hadn't touched Alison DiLaurentis!

"Who's that from? Is that from one of your friends?" he demanded.

If it was from Spencer… if she believed it, he knew it was over.

Emily swallowed, looking more scared by the minute. "I've gotta go."

"Why?" he asked furiously. Of course she wouldn't listen to him. Of course she'd forget the way they had talked and hung out and befriended each other lately. She'd always be on their side. He was stupid to believe that she might hear him out.

"Wait, just hear me out."

"No, I've gotta go."

"Please."

He still hadn't let go of her arm.

"Let go! Leave me alone!"

Toby tried to plead with her again to please, just stay, and he wouldn't hurt her, but she had pushed him hard and he fell backwards into the shelf of chemistry supplies. Beakers and vials and supplies crashed around him, the shattering glass cutting his face.

He looked at her, the heartbreak on his face shining clear through. She really believed he would hurt her. What they had meant nothing.

He lifted his shirt to wipe his face from the blood trickling down his cheek and her eyes zoned in on the tattoo on his hip that he accidentally revealed.

Her mouth falling open, she knocked over a stool to block his path and rushed to leave the classroom, shouting for help as she ran.

He knew this couldn't be good. If she got to the others and believed their lies, he'd never be able to rectify himself again. Whatever proof they thought they had plus his reform school background and he could easily be thrown behind bars if they took it to the police. He had to get to her first. Make her understand that he hadn't meant to frighten her and that he did NOT kill anybody.

"Emily, wait!" he called, chasing after her, but that only seemed to scare her more.

* * *

"Where is she?" Aria wondered aloud, standing in the empty cafeteria with no sign of either Toby nor Emily.

"Maybe they left." Hanna suggested, since they hadn't had any luck so far. They hadn't checked the parking lot for Toby's car yet.

Then they heard their friend's distinct voice. "_Get away from me_!"

Oh god. Toby was trying to hurt her! Maybe it was true!

"That's her!" Spencer shouted and they all raced off in the direction the sound was coming from.

* * *

Emily was screaming out for help, asking for somebody, _anybody_, to help her, shouting for Toby to get away from her, running as fast as she could in her heels.

"Emily-" Toby called desperately.

But she was so freaked out now she probably couldn't even hear him. They were running along some curtained area now.

"Somebody help me! Get away! Leave me alone!"

And then suddenly she screamed and he watched in horror as she tripped and cracked her head off the floor hard.

He finally caught up to her lifeless body and felt panic grip his chest. She was unconscious. Oh god, it looked like he really had hurt her. Would people think he pushed her?

Well he knew three girls that would.

Regardless, she needed medical help and he wasn't about to drag her in the middle of a dance to a parent or teacher. Scooping her light body up in his strong arms, Toby slipped outside the back door and rushed to his car, laying her gently in the backseat and speeding off to the hospital.

Oh god, this was so bad.

She had a cut on her temple that was bleeding pretty badly. Oh god, was she going to recover from this? Had he chased her and caused her death or a coma?

Thankfully, a nurse there took her in right away and he handed over her health card from her clutch. When she turned around to ask if he wanted to wait for her, he had already disappeared out of the door.

This was bad. This was really, really bad.

He could barely drive home. Once there, he hung the keys on the hook and switched them out for his motorcycle keys. He had finally gotten the thing together and running, which was perfect since he needed to get out of this town as soon as possible and he couldn't exactly take the family car.

He was glad Jenna wasn't home when he threw his stuff in a bag and jumped on the back of his bike.

Toby wiped at his falling tears. So much for befriending Emily. She now thought he was evil and trying to hurt her and that he had killed her best friend. That is if she even woke up. He knew head wounds were really dangerous, and she had fallen hard.

But Spencer believed he was a killer too apparently. He knew that group worked as a collective, and if her friends thought he was a murderer, she probably did too. She had seemed to take over the leadership role since Ali had gone. That probably meant it was her idea.

Knowing that there was no chance for him with Spencer, no chance for even having a friend in Rosewood now that he lost Emily, and only Jenna's manipulative ways to console him at home, Toby drove off into the night without looking back.

He'd have to start somewhere new. Find someone new to fall in love with. Make new friends. Create new memories.

He had some reform school friends he could look up. Maybe he could start in a town that he had at least one ally. The guys that he used to hang out with that weren't so bad would probably house him for a few nights.

Pulling over, Toby scrolled through his phone and sent out a few messages, hoping for some good news.

Only one of the guys got back to him right away and said he was in Allen Town if he wanted to make the journey. That wasn't too far. He could definitely be there by one am at least.

Feeling as better as you could when your life has fallen out from under you, Toby started driving in that direction.

His side mirrors were reflecting the headlights of a big truck traveling behind him and he adjusted them to stop the glare from beaming into his eyes.

But the light kept growing brighter and he heard the engine roar louder. Maybe the person couldn't see him. He pulled a little out of the way, into the other lane, to let them by.

But the truck didn't seem to want to go around him. Before Toby knew it, the truck was nudging his bike like some dog desperate for attention.

His bike was only so sturdy being on only two wheels and weighing significantly less than a freight truck, so he felt the wheels wobbling beneath him and knew he was about to lose his balance going over eighty miles per hour.

He tried to pull away from the shove, but it was all happening so fast, and they only hit him from the side harder.

That's when the bike tilted forward and Toby found himself rolling with it into the ditch.

All he registered at first was the immense pain his entire body was in followed by the smell of dirt, and then everything went black.


	17. Chapter 17

_Hope you guys are a Spemily fan for the beginning of this chapter. Please stick out these Spoby trouble spots with me I promise they are worth it.  
_

_Your response last chapter was INCREDIBLE! Thank you so much! Loved the detail in your reviews, you guys sure know how to spoil a girl and make her feel special! xo_

**I do not own Pretty Little Liars.**

* * *

It had been quite a scare when the girls were called and told Emily was unconscious in the hospital. It was then that Spencer gave up. She had been holding onto hope that Toby was still the guy she remembered, the guy she knew, but now she knew that somehow that must have all been an act. He manipulated her like he manipulated Emily, and now her best friend had had her head cracked open.

Spencer had always been naturally very protective of Emily. She was so trusting and gentle and always saw the best in people. Toby would curse the day she crossed paths with him again for hurting sweet Emily in such a way.

Thankfully, Emily had been sent home with just a couple stitches and a brace for her wrist since she had sprained that on her fall to the ground.

Spencer was the first person, on the morning after homecoming, to arrive at the Fields house when Emily texted her to say she was allowed visitors. Pam, Emily's mom, let her in.

Spencer was actually grateful that it was just her and Emily, but she noticed Emily's guilty expression when she asked where the others were, and clued in that Emily had yet to notify them that they could come over.

The one in perfect medical health sat on the edge of the bed, brushing Em's hair away from her face. "How are you?"

Emily looked down at her hands in her lap. "I'm okay. Embarrassed. A little sore." she added, gesturing to her head.

"Do you need-"

"I'm fine, Spence." Emily told her, a little amusedly since Spencer was always so maternal when her friends were in need. "I wanted to talk to you before the others get here. To tell you what happened."

Spencer nodded and realized this was one of those times she would have to bite her tongue, hard, to shut herself up. Normally, she would always be interrupting, but she really wanted to hear the fully story so she waited patiently for Emily to start.

Emily was pretty detailed in her retelling, explaining in full that Toby had suggested the chemistry lab as a place to talk, locked the door behind them, and then claimed he was going to tell her what happened last summer so she could hear it from him.

"I thought… especially after that text… that he was talking about Ali. And when I ran, he chased me."

But Spencer caught her unease over her last few words. "Chased? Or followed?"

Emily bit her lip. "That's what I'm not sure of anymore. He was begging me to wait… he sounded so desperate… I don't think he wanted to talk about Alison at all… I think he wanted to talk to me about _you_."

Spencer stared at her in surprise.

"It's just… he was really angry and aggressive in some moments, like when he saw that text from you guys, but I don't know… it probably was fueled by fear, right?"

Spencer sighed. "I don't know, Em. He's been like that with me too."

"You guys have been hanging out?" Emily asked, eyes wide. Spencer had just given her the lecture last night that Toby could be bad news…

"No! I mean… sort of. Not really. It's just… these guys were being tools to him in the hallway the other day and-"

"You thought you'd relive your first meeting again?" Emily teased.

Spencer noted that she looked happier by this news than anything that had happened in the last few weeks. She was practically beaming in excitement, despite them contemplating if Toby was a killer or not.

She was blushing now. "No… I just…" She sucked in a breath. "I know that he's never been bully-free, but people are getting cruel to him now. And I know that's because he went to reform school. And sure, it was his choice and he'd rather be as far from me as possible, but I was still the reason he went. And…"

Emily put her good hand on her friend's. "I get it, Spence. I know you can't even help yourself sometimes."

Spencer nodded. "I helped him clean up that shaving cream mess… I don't know if you saw, but that idiot Yeardley kid put it in his locker and it got all over everything. I helped Toby clean it and he just…"

"Spence…" Emily said softly, seeing unusual water forming in her best friend's eyes. "Come here."

Spencer obliged and snuggled into her friend on her good side. She wasn't sure how she had bottled this for as long as she had but she knew if there was anyone who she could confide in it about it would be Emily.

"Did something happen between you?" Emily asked gently, playing with Spencer's hair in a sisterly manner.

"No… but there was a moment where I thought something would." she admitted. "He grabbed my wrist… and he said my name in that soft way he used to… and then his hands were on my waist…"

"What happened next?"

"I ran. And me and Alex hit it off. And I told Toby that I had moved on like he asked and he didn't seem to care either way… and then he showed up at homecoming with you."

Emily squeezed her hand. "I'm sorry. I hope you know I didn't do that to hurt you."

"I know, Em."

"And if I had known you were still feeling this way…"

"No, Em, it's fine, okay? I… I have a boyfriend now. I can't be hung up on Toby anymore. It's stupid. And self-destructive. And he doesn't want me anymore, he said so himself."

Emily didn't say anything, and she knew it was because she didn't agree, but Spencer ignored it.

Her phone suddenly beeped and she saw that Aria was wondering if she had heard from Emily. She showed it to her friend.

"I should probably call the other girls now, huh?"

Spencer smiled. "Yeah… wait. There's something I want you to know before they come over and start talking about Toby's file."

Emily sat up straighter, clearly interested.

Spencer went on to explain about what the therapist implied, and then, with difficulty, how she had known the story to be the other way around.

During her explanation, Spencer got to thinking. Maybe she _had_ been right to believe Toby. He may be a good actor, but why would he go so far as to fake emotional scars like when they were kissing on the train? Why would he have gotten so upset when he explained as vaguely as possible about Jenna torturing him? Why would he be so guarded around her when Jenna approached him in the hallway that day? As far as manipulation went, it was clear that Jenna was the best at that. She had the same attitude as Alison did—she liked power. It was why she was the first person Spencer thought of after Toby's confession all those months ago.

Toby hadn't been forcing himself on Jenna, no matter what that stupid shrink's file said.

Emily looked rather horrified by the end of the reveal, and Spencer felt bad for burdening her.

"I just… I don't want the others to know. It's… Toby's business, you know?" Spencer explained, looking down in shame. "I know you'll keep it to yourself. And that you must care about Toby now too."

Emily nodded, taking Spencer's hand. "I do. He's a lot different than I expected. I only really saw him that one day for a little bit when you guys were together, but getting to know him more, I see why you liked him so much."

Spencer felt a prickle of fear. Was Emily developing feelings for Toby? She thought it was possible when she showed up at homecoming with him, but after this conversation, she thought Emily and he would be just friends. But now… it's not like Emily was with Ben anymore… and Toby had said he wanted to move on…

"Me and Toby are just friends." Emily told her, reading her mind, although Spencer was pretty sure her emotions were all over her face.

Toby always made her guard go down. Damn that boy for being so in control of her feelings even when he was miles away.

Spencer bit her lip, trying not to act like that's what she'd been worrying about, but Emily's phone beeped and she got distracted.

After typing back, she placed her phone back on the night table. "Hanna and Aria are coming. Spence, I won't tell, I promise."

Spencer hugged her in gratitude. "I'm going to go pick up some coffee so I look like I haven't been here the entire time. I'll grab you a green tea?"

Emily nodded, smiling at Spencer's pretend excuse for why she needed to get coffee. She knew as well as anyone that that teenager's blood was mocha-coloured.

Spencer exited the Fields house and got into her car, casting a longing look at the Cavanaugh house a few doors down. She knew Toby's motorcycle was gone which meant he was too, but she still found her eyes drawn to that porch. She hoped he wasn't gone forever, but she wasn't even entirely sure what he was running from.

* * *

Spencer ended up getting to Emily's shortly before Aria arrived and they made the decision to keep their earlier conversation completely quiet. Spencer would play along that she hadn't told Emily about the file yet and that she was still wary of Toby's motives. But when Emily asked some valid questions, she would join ranks and hopefully convince the other two to come to their side—that Toby wasn't dangerous.

Aria hugged each of them when she arrived.

"So should we tell her? About Jenna and Toby?" Aria asked Spencer. "Hanna said she'll be a while but we could get started on this Scooby meeting without her."

"What about them?" Emily asked, pulling her best curious face.

Aria sat on the edge of the bed, since Spencer was leaning against the dresser now sipping coffee. "It was all in his shrink's file. Toby and Jenna had a relationship. Way beyond step-siblings. They were… involved."

"Romantically?" the bandaged brunette asked in faux-surprise.

Spencer joined in. "I doubt I'd call it romantic since I doubt she had much of a choice." she said grimly.

"And that's what Alison saw when she threw the stink bomb." Aria was explaining. "She threatened to expose Toby and that's probably why he wanted her dead. And not just her—us. _You_."

Emily bit her lip. It would make sense… if it were true.

"You don't believe us?" Aria asked slowly, but then when she looked at Spencer, she saw she too was contemplating some alternative answer to all of this.

Emily looked at Spencer as she spoke. "I just don't get it. If Toby killed Alison and wanted to do the same to me, then why am I sitting in my bed and not in a body bag?"

Aria fell silent and looked to Spencer for an argument but she shrugged.

"Maybe it's not as black and white as we think. We must be missing something…"

Thankfully, Hanna came in and interrupted their discussion. She went off on a paranoid rant about how many police were outside the therapist office when she went to sneak the file back in. She was brandishing it around Emily's room like it was on fire when Emily requested to see it.

Aria's phone trilled and they all tensed. It was just her mom though, and Aria told the others she better head home. Spencer knew she too had to get a move on with her day and wished Emily the best before exiting the Fields home with her tiny best friend.

"I still can't believe she won that car." Aria commented as she headed down the street to her own.

Spencer laughed. Emily had won the raffle last night for the beautiful white Toyota that was parked outside of her house now.

She was happy for her best friend, but she had also seen Alex eying the vehicle last night and had hopes that he would be the one to walk away with the keys.

Remembering that she had screwed up royally and if she didn't do something he may have lost more than a raffle last night, she climbed into her car and headed towards the club she knew he was supposed to be working at today.

* * *

Since Spencer could join the Hall of Fame for Worst Date Awards, she knew she'd be better off confronting Alex in person than over the phone when it came to pleading for forgiveness. Homecoming was supposed to be their first 'official' date so, since that tanked, she knew that he easily could have wrote off the relationship as a whole too. It was a test, and she definitely failed.

But she was a Hastings and she was stubborn. She didn't give up easily.

She knew she was working that day so she headed inside to confront him somewhere that he couldn't avoid her.

Not spotting him on the courts, she asked around and was directed to the kitchens. Ignoring the 'Employees Only' sign, she pushed through.

Spotting a chef, she figured he would know. "Um, hi, I'm looking for Alex."

The voice she had been wanting to hear had answered for him. "Spencer? What are you doing back here?"

She looked across the grill to see Alex cooking. "Looking for you. The guy in the pro shop said you were on kitchen duty."

"The general manager fired twelve people this morning." he said by way of explanation.

That seemed a little excessive. "Why?"

"Turns out our laundry service was laundering more than napkins, so I get to be the sous chef today." he said, looking mighty impressed about that. It was clear based on all of the club workers that she had run into that day that they were stressed out by the shortness of staff and sudden change of roles.

"Um, can you take a break so we can talk?" she asked hopefully.

"I need to finish this." he said firmly, but he did look a little sorry about it.

"I really have to explain about last night."

"Don't worry, your sister already did that." he replied, and she knew now that he was definitely not happy with her. How could he believe Melissa over her?!

"No, my sister lied!" she exclaimed.

Another girl in the kitchen suddenly interrupted. "You can't be back here. This is staff only. No members allowed."

"I'm sorry. I'll be gone in just a minute. Can we at least try it again? I owe you a complete do-over." she begged Alex, ignoring the other girl for the moment.

"You're violating like a million health codes right now." the stern girl around their age told her.

Spencer was losing her patience. This was not going as well as she hoped and this girl wasn't helping anything. "Look, I've already had my shots and I won't touch the tartar sauce, okay?"

She smiled a little when Alex chuckled at her comment, but the other girl was less impressed and sent an annoyed look his way.

"You wanna get canned too?"

He stopped chuckling, but was still pretty easygoing when he told her it was okay.

The girl stalked away irritably.

Alex smirked. "Ooh, you've got Stephanie mad at you."

"Okay, well, I'll worry about that if I ever order the clam chowder." she said amusedly. "Another chance? Tomorrow night. Please?"

Alex contemplated it and then an idea seemed to hit him since he grew serious. "All right. Only if I get to plan the whole night out, start to finish, and you go along with whatever I say."

She swallowed. She'd have to do whatever he said? He wouldn't tell her until after he picked her up?

"Uh, it sounds kind of dangerous." she said apprehensively.

"Only to someone who is used to running the show." he challenged.

Spencer never backed down from a challenge. "All right, you're on."

They shared a smile for a moment and Spencer had hope that they would work things out. Spotting Stephanie glaring from her spot a few feet away, she realized she was pushing her luck and should probably get out of there.

"Um, I should probably let you get back to work. Call me later?" she asked hopefully.

Alex smiled and nodded. "I will."

Feeling relieved, Spencer left out of the kitchen, wondering what Stephanie planned on doing with the red pen in her hand that she was brandishing like a weapon. Spencer was just grateful that she didn't have to deal with her anymore and that she and Alex might actually work things out.

* * *

Toby woke up groggily, feeling pretty shitty all over, and coughed.

It sent a shooting pain across his ribcage and he knew instantly that he had fractured a few of his ribs. It hurt to breathe.

He rolled over with difficulty and realized that he wasn't on the ground outside like he would've expected. He was in a motel.

A familiar figure entered the room and smirked upon seeing him.

"Hey, you're alive. Well what do ya know. You were always a stubborn one, Cavanaugh."

Toby chuckled, but it hurt, so he stopped. "Hey, Willis."

Willis, or Jackson Hazelwood, was the guy Toby had been planning on bunking with for a few days before his bike crash. He got his nickname because he was always rambling on about something that no one could follow so they'd quote '_Whatcha talkin' about, Willis?_' from the old show _Different Strokes_ so it just stuck. With Toby, he usually stuck with calling him by his real name unless Jackson had been poking fun at him or going off on one of his story-telling rambles.

"How did you find me?" Toby asked, accepting the water glass graciously.

"You actually weren't too far out. I tracked you by your phone GPS signal. Remember how I'm handy that way?" Jackson winked at him.

The Cavanaugh kid rolled his eyes. That was how Jackson got thrown in reform school in the first place, hacking into things and generally being a technology whiz. He used to change his grades in the school system all the time, but he started getting bored and longed for more, so he started taking things to higher levels. That's when he got caught and got thrown in alongside Toby.

"How could I forget?" Toby replied. "Thanks for picking me up."

"No worries. You always had my back at camp, I figured the least I could do was hoist you over my shoulder and toss you in my backseat."

Toby cracked a smile. Jackson was built almost like a body builder—very broad shoulders, heavily muscled biceps, beefy, football kind of build all around. He was very fit. He really could hoist Toby over his shoulder with ease if he felt like it.

For some reason, Jackson preferred to call the reform school they went to as 'camp' since it sounded a lot less scary and made it easier to remember the good memories rather than the bad. Reform school hadn't had fun activities like swimming or rock climbing or songs by the campfire, but when they were all in their bunks at night, sometimes it sort of felt like it. That is, if you were bunked with the right people. Toby was lucky he had Jackson and a few of the other guys with him during his stay. He knew he wouldn't have survived without them.

"I didn't take you to a hospital. Did you want to go?"

Toby shook his head. "I'm trying to keep a low profile. I've only got some cracked ribs and plenty of bruises. I'll be fine." He was lucky he had been wearing all of his motorcycle gear or else he probably would've been picked up in pieces.

Jackson nodded. "I figured you were running away. Things with your girl didn't work out?"

Toby almost wanted to laugh. No they certainly hadn't. He forgot that Jackson was the one he had confided in and admitted that he had a girl he was looking forward to getting back to when he was freed from 'camp'. His friend had asked him one day how he kept pushing through and he had admitted that Spencer was the reason he could take all of the blows.

"Nope." Toby answered, popping the 'p'. "But whatever. I just need out of that town. Too small. People look at you like you're a pyromaniac because you were present at _one_ fire… There's just… nothing left for me there now."

"Fair enough. Look, I'm only here for a few days and then I've got a job a little farther north. You're welcome to crash here with me until I split, but after that, you're on your own, okay? I'm not dragging you into my work when you're trying to get away from the bullshit. You never should've gone to camp in the first place."

Toby shrugged. "It was worth it, even if things have gone to hell now." He winced as he exhaled. "You wouldn't have any painkillers, would you?"

Jackson grinned. "I've got the non-traditional kind too, if you want." Seeing Toby's look, he rolled his eyes. "You're no fun. All right, big boy, let's get you fixed up. I wasn't going to play medic while you were sleeping. You can save those doctor fantasies for when you find your next girl."

Toby shook his head in disbelief. This guy hadn't changed a bit. He was grateful that he was here though and that someone clearly wanted him around. It was better than Rosewood already.

Maybe running away wouldn't be so bad…

* * *

Hanna, Aria, and Spencer argued the entire time in the car. Aria mostly played mediator while the two wolves went at each other's throats. They were supposed to be driving to the dental clinic to try to sneak Toby's file back in, but Hanna didn't want to risk the police being outside the office again and made the decision to burn it in the woods where they used to go with Alison.

Hanna had sped the entire way there and had stopped the car abruptly, not listening to either as she stormed through the woods. Aria told Spencer to wait by the car, but she wasn't having any of that.

"Can we at least talk about this?" Aria asked as she nearly stumbled on tree roots trying to chase after Hanna.

"No! I don't want this in my house and I don't want it in my locker." Hanna countered.

Spencer piped in now. "I will mail it to the police." It was a legal document; as much as Spencer wanted to protect Toby if he was innocent and this file's contents wouldn't help anything, she was raised by lawyers so she had a certain respect for the law.

"No, it's not gonna happen. I'm not having it traced back to me."

Spencer couldn't wrap her mind around that one. Hanna could be so dramatic!

"How will it be traced back to you when _I'm_ the one licking the envelope?!"

"Guys!" Aria was still trying to smooth things over, but they were ignoring her.

"And _I'm_ the one that works in that building! I'm also the one who always gets caught."

Aria finally got a word in. "Hanna, Spencer's right. Okay, burning the folder out here is a bad idea. The police could build a case against Toby! He had a motive to kill Alison!"

Spencer didn't really want to defend that point, so she was going to defend another fact, but Hanna cut in before she could.

"It can also prove that I broke into his shrink's office. Look, I really can't afford to take any more field trips to the precinct. I'm pretty sure after three strikes, you're assigned to the prison laundry."

Aria, always a pacifier, softened her tone suddenly at her friends confession. "Hanna, what strikes? You were just trying to save your friend."

Hanna stopped finally. "Look, I've already got busted for stealing sunglasses and my boyfriend's car."

That was news to them.

"Wait, you stole sunglasses? From who?" Spencer asked in surprise.

"Not from a person, from a store! God, I have some class." Hanna added irritably, as if there were acceptable standards for stealing.

"Wait, are you talking about the Gucci ones, with the gold trim?" Aria asked, but Spencer interrupted. They couldn't afford to get off topic.

"Focus! Hey Hanna, this is _not_ about petty theft. If they think Toby could be the killer, we need to give them a chance to prove it or clear his name! We can't keep keeping certain details from the police, it hasn't helped us any. We can't keep making these same mistakes over and over again!"

"We?" Hanna repeated, unconvincingly.

"Yes, _we._ Okay? We are all in this together. We are all being stalked by A. And if Toby's run off-"

"Okay, we don't know that he's A." Aria reminded them.

"Have you gotten one single text since last night? Toby may not be A, but if it's Jenna and she wanted him gone, then she clearly got what she wanted and maybe we can use this to prove that she's really the devil!"

Hanna, ignoring her completely, ripped the file from her hand.

Spencer let out an annoyed groan. "Why are you being so pigheaded?"

Hanna stopped in front of the river, glaring at her. "Why? Because I don't have a big fat safety net to catch me. Not all of us have a daddy that can write a cheque to make the bogeyman go away."

Spencer tugged on the file, forcing her friend to turn. "What are you talking about?"

The blonde let out an exasperated groan. "Spencer, you get caught stealing an essay and your parents let you take a picture for the newspaper! I get caught stealing an accessory and I have to lug around medical waste."

Both of them had fire spitting between their eyes. Spencer knew her family was well off, but she didn't like the implication that she was a spoiled rich brat. It wasn't her fault her parents were successful lawyers and had a very twisted opinion on teaching their child right from wrong!

Aria jumped in to the ring finally and threw the file up into the air. The pages floated into the water, bending and swirling as the liquid soaked through the sheets.

"There! It's done, okay? We never saw it. We don't even know it exists. Can we leave now, please?"

With one final angry exchange of glances, Hanna and Spencer led the way back to the car.

Aria's phone went off and she pulled out a text, looking bothered by the message.

"A?" Spencer asked, shooting Hanna a I-told-you-it-wasn't-Toby look.

She shook her head. "Emily. _'Whatever you do, don't destroy that file!'"_

All three of them exchanged guilty looks, their eyes going to the flowing river that the contents had disappeared down.

* * *

After finding out that they had actually _helped_ Jenna by destroying the file, Spencer was feeling pretty low.

Getting a text from Alex cancelling their do-over date because he had to work only made her feel worse. Emily, supportive as always, reminded her that that sounded pretty legitimate, especially considering how short staffed they suddenly were, but Spencer told her the truth—the club was closed on Mondays. He must have said so knowing she knew that and she got his message loud and clear—he wasn't interested in reviving things after all.

Stubborn, Spencer investigated for herself. But when she entered the kitchen to find it bare of any bodies, she knew her suspicions had been right. He wasn't there. She bit her lip, feeling her eyes itching. So much for moving on.

"Spencer?" his voice suddenly came and she turned around to see him looking at her in surprise, carrying metal dishes filled with fresh fruit.

"You _are_ here." she stated dumbly out of surprise.

"You thought I was lying?"

"No, I-" she started to fib, but he smirked.

"Maybe?"

She sighed. "Yes."

"There's some big breakfast thing here tomorrow. They told me I get time and a half." he explained as he grabbed some wooden skewers and began pushing fruit down one. "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Spencer straightened. "Like what?"

"Like I'd rather be making fruit kabobs than spending time with you?"

She glanced down in shyness for a moment before holding his gaze. "I guess I'm just trying to figure this out."

He remained quiet, but he seemed to understand. Their eyes were both searching the others for some sort of encouragement that things would be okay.

Spencer decided to take a leap and be bold. "So are we still on for our do-over date?" she had to ask, but before he could reply, a man came out and Alex got distracted.

"You out of here, boss?"

"Hell yes. Who's this?"

Crap. Spencer's mind flashed back to the Stephanie apocalypse of the other day. If this guy was the boss…

Alex seemed to be on the same page. "Just a friend helping out. Is that a problem?"

Spencer immediately slipped off her jacket and reached for the gloves from the pack in front of her.

"Only if she's making melon balls without a hairnet. Suit her up. And if you need anything, don't call me. I'll be laying in a puddle of my own waste."

He didn't seem mad, just appropriately bitter for his life. Spencer grabbed a hairnet and began pulling it on dutifully.

Spencer and Alex were both snickering when he finally disappeared.

"You can stop now, he's gone." Alex told her.

She looked around. "Well is anyone else coming through?"

"If they do, we'll hide you in the meat locker."

"Why? Think I can't handle stabbing kiwi and cantaloupe?" she asked, doing just that and beating his pace by a landslide. She hid a smile of pride to herself. Truth be told, Spencer couldn't help but be competitive, even about something so frivolous. She was a Hastings.

"What are you doing?" Alex asked her in surprise.

"Cutting your workload in half." she explained. If they worked together, they might be able to fit in their do-over date after all!

Alex seemed flabbergasted by her simple suggestion. "Wow. If your parents could see their little girl right now…"

Spencer smiled. "My parents stay on the other side of those doors, remember?"

His eyes stayed on her and she finally realized how close they were. Alex was watching her in a way that gave her hope that they could work things out. He seemed impressed with her difference from her family and she wouldn't have been surprised if he tried to kiss her.

Was she really ready for that?

Choosing the comfortable option, she fake-scolded him. "Come on, move your melon balls, you're slowing me down!"

Alex smirked and pulled a skewer out to continue the kabob task.

* * *

A little while later, they ran out of wooden skewers and Alex had pulled out more fruit to chop up.

"There are more skewers in the back room."

"I can get them." Spencer said, since his hands were full of fruit juice.

"Thanks. They should be on the middle unit, on the right side."

She headed out into the storage room and stood in front of the appropriate shelves, but didn't see anything that resembled storage for skewers. Most of it seemed to be cleaning supplies. Maybe she was at the wrong spot? "What shelf are they on?"

"Check the bottom one, under the sponges." he called back.

Apparently she was, but she didn't see them under the sponges. Crossing the room to the other side (maybe he had mixed up his right and left?) she opened the cabinet and shifted things on the bottom shelf around. Nothing there either.

As she straightened up, she suddenly spotted disfigured pictures lining the doors. She saw her own face among the masses, devil's horns and a pointy chin covering her ID photo. Someone had printed it from the main computer just to mark it up.

She felt tears begin to form in her eyes.

"Did you find them? God, no. Don't look at that." Alex pleaded, crossing the room quickly to take it away from her.

She brushed him off. "No, don't. What is this?"

"It's-it's nothing… it's stupid." he explained, trying to make light of it.

"It's a picture of me with horns. Who did this?"

Why would anyone? Who hated her that much? She knew people at school that still resented her for being a part of Alison's posse, but she had no affiliation with Alison at the country club. If she had made enemies here, it was because of who she was. She couldn't hide under the excuse of Alison anymore.

"Not me. It's the bitch board, something the staff does to blow off steam. When a club member is rude to one of us, we keep a running tab."

That did not help her any. "And I made the cut?"

Alex's voice grew soft. "Spencer, I've never seen your picture there before, I swear."

Her tears were building fast now at the realization. "So this is how everyone who works here sees me? Wow."

She slipped off her hairnet and passed it over to him, pushing past him to leave.

"Where are you going? Spencer, your sister took one look at me at homecoming and thought I was there to park her car. People act like this. Doesn't matter if you're queen bees or worker bees."

She knew he was right. After all, Hanna had said much of the same thing the day before. If you were rich, you were automatically assumed to be a self-righteous snob. And with her family being as they were, like when her dad made Alex take the fall for his poor judgment because he 'could pick up balls anywhere', she really couldn't blame them.

But it was hard to think that rationally when she was hurting, so Spencer simply continued walking out of the door. She didn't want Alex to see her cry.

Spencer went outside and sat in her car for a while, letting the tears fall freely. Was her family's politics and paycheques really going to dictate her life? She worked so hard to be seen as who she was rather than where she came from, but where she came from influenced who she was, so it really was a vicious cycle. She had certain expectations being a Hastings, so even though she worked twice as hard as everyone, it wasn't as amazing when it came from someone who had a family with a track record for excellence. It was frustrating to have to work that much harder for approval and praise.

When the tears finally halted, Spencer remembered that there was a very kind boy inside that she had been having a wonderful time with all morning. It wasn't his fault that one of his coworkers had such a problem with her.

In fact, thinking back to the day she visited him in the kitchen the first time, Stephanie had been menacingly holding a red pen in her hand. She was probably the one since Spencer had sassed her in front of Alex. Maybe she had a thing for him and was just bitter.

Spencer didn't want Stephanie to try to get with Alex. She liked Alex and she wanted to be with him. Things with Toby might be crazy, but she really liked Alex. She liked being around him. He was funny and sweet and charming when he wanted to be. He was just really real, and there were no secrets or confusion. He was very straight-up and she adored that. She needed that.

With that thought in mind, she marched back inside. Entering the kitchen, she realized it was nearing lunch time since Alex was cooking food on the stove for himself. He was frying up some vegetables and shaking his hips to the Latino beat coming out of the radio.

"You gonna eat all that yourself?" Spencer teased.

Alex's head snapped up and he broke into a happy smile to see her there. "I always make enough for two."

He held out his hand, continuing to dance, and she giggled.

"What are you doing?" she asked as he pulled her in.

He lifted her hand to his lips to press an affectionate kiss to her knuckles before they started dancing together. She couldn't stop smiling and giggling, not having danced like this in a long time. She had no idea Alex could dance like this; she herself had been taking an assortment of dance lessons since she was a kid. Again, she wished she had paid more attention to him at homecoming. She couldn't believe she had missed this then, although she very much enjoyed being able to do this with no witnesses.

Especially when she was turned around to him and his hand slid sensually up her bare arm. She could feel all of her feelings for him building as they caught each others' dark eyes and she turned around in time for him to leap forward to kiss her.

She leaned back against the counter, meeting his lips repeatedly, and feeling the heat from the kitchen and the attraction between them rising. Her hands found his hair and they made out like that for quite some time until they were both breathless. It was the best kiss she had since Toby, but she felt guilty since it was _his_ blue eyes that she searched for afterwards only to be met with Alex's brown ones.

"So worth the wait." he murmured to her, kissing her once on the lips before taking her by the hand over to feed her the lunch he had been making them. "I was hoping you'd come back."

"I was hoping you'd want me to." she admitted, smiling broadly and not releasing his hand as they headed to the lounge area to indulge in the fine cuisine.

Not bad for a do-over date.

* * *

Spencer's good mood lasted for the rest of the day until Emily texted telling her she had bad news and that she should come over right away.

Not sure what could be going on, Spencer headed over there to find Hanna pulling up to the Fields house at the same time as she was.

There was still some tension between them from the other day, but they sat on opposite sides of Emily at her window seat to hear the news regardless.

Emily inhaled and explained how she saw the police at the Cavanaughs. There was a tow truck with Toby's busted up motorcycle chained to the back and the officers were leaving a sobbing Jenna on the porch. She was clearly distraught and it looked like the worst.

"So is Toby dead?" Hanna asked.

Spencer was too numb to form a response to anything. This couldn't be true. She had spent the day with Alex kissing and laughing and Toby was lying on the cold, hard ground somewhere?

"I couldn't bring myself to ask. Jenna was so upset. But his bike… it looked like it was…like it was wrecked." Emily explained.

"How wrecked are we talking here?" Spencer piped up finally.

Hanna scoffed. "I'm pretty sure wrecked means WRECKED, Spencer."

"Well I'm sorry for _speaking_." she snapped back, but then realized that Hanna was right to jump in. Emily only looked more upset by the question and she hadn't meant to make things harder on her. "Look, she's right… It was a stupid question. I know you know what you saw."

Emily sort of half-nodded, clearly lost in her own thoughts.

Hanna looked at Spencer. "I'm sorry for what I said about your family yesterday. I didn't mean it."

Spencer remembered back to earlier at the club in the storage room. "It's true. You're not the first person to think it." She really couldn't hold Hanna to blame for being frustrated with the injustice of being less financially privileged. Spencer took for granted her safety net sometimes and she knew that.

Emily's phone beeped, interrupting the make-up.

"It's probably Aria. Something weird is going down at her house." Hanna interjected.

With everything going on with her parents, Aria wasn't able to come over. She had been pretty cryptic explaining, but they all figured her parents were making their final decision about how to deal with their situation.

Emily read the text and let out a shaky gasp.

"What is it?!" Hanna demanded.

Spencer grabbed the phone and felt a chill freeze her frame as she read it out loud. "_Thanks for getting Toby out of my way. –A._"

So it was true. Toby was dead. A knew everything.

Without another word, Spencer dropped Emily's phone back into her friend's lap and bolted out of the door.

"No, Spencer, wait!" Emily called, but Spencer was already running down the stairs and out of the door. She threw her car in drive and began speeding recklessly towards the one place she had avoided since she had been there last.

Reaching the edge of town on the overlooking hill, Spencer halted the car and leaped out as her sobs finally burst from her chest. She sunk to her knees as her lungs spasmed in her agony, reaching out aimlessly to clutch at the grass that they once laid on together. Back before everything went to hell. Back before she started losing everyone she ever loved.

He was gone. Toby was dead. The blue-eyed boy who she missed dearly and loved even more had left the world forever. And she was partly to blame.

She didn't know how she would ever recover from this.


	18. Chapter 18

_I made the decision not to include the memorial episode (1x08 Please, Do Talk About Me When I'm Gone) in my story and instead summarized over it. There weren't a lot of options for Spoby scenes/anything significant to my plot line, so the important things I included here but there won't be any dialogue from that episode which should please some of you ;) As I stated before, there will be a lot more original/"never before seen" scenes onwards in the story so I hope you guys enjoy those. I added a little Sparia in this one for those that adore that pair._

_I said so earlier on in other ANs/on twitter, but I do switch around the order of the episodes. For example, The Perfect Storm (1x09) will be out of sorts in the timeline since I jump right into Keep Your Friends Close (1x10). I did this for a reason; there is a scene I wrote way long ago that I wanted to include in this, and it didn't disrupt anything major so it wasn't a problem to do so. I needed it to happen after some things are explained/resolved in these chapters so that's why I did that. I can't see why that would bother anyone, but just in case anyone was worried I wasn't including the episode I guess? I will be. Just not until chapter 21/22 most likely._

_This concludes my prepared chapters. Technically last chapter was the last I wrote during my hiatus, but I got this one finished in the past week while posting the others. So the next updates will probably be slower but I'm going to try to keep on top of it the best I can! :)_

_I hope you guys enjoy! Thanks so much for all the feedback and support! You guys really made my day yesterday. I went to work and came home to ten incredible reviews in the short span of time I was gone. Couldn't ask for better. And I noticed recently, although I would've beat the mark a few chapters ago, you guys have officially made this story my most reviewed on fanfiction! So thank you SO much! That's really amazing.  
_

**I do not own Pretty Little Liars.**

* * *

Spencer had lost herself to her grief the night she thought she had lost Toby forever, but there was something in her heart telling her that he was still out there. She couldn't really explain it, but after she had cried herself to sleep the first night, she had woken up and realized that she wasn't ready to mourn his death until she knew for sure. She had held on for Ali for an entire year that the girl was deemed missing. As much as she and Toby had had their differences, she wasn't ready to grieve his death until she knew for sure either.

So far, no news about his whereabouts came. That was good news. If Toby was dead, they would have found his body, right? The police were searching that area high and low. And if he was hurt, he would've been taken to a local hospital. For all Spencer knew, A could've just stolen his bike and crashed it to make her assume he was gone.

She and Toby may be over, but she would always care about him. And she felt like, after everything, she owed it to him to not give up on him yet. So she kept her head held up high and continued on like nothing had changed. The only one who really noticed that she wasn't fine was Emily, since Spencer would avoid coming over due to the view of Toby's house from Emily's. But Emily understood and didn't push her on it. Spencer also hadn't seen Alex much, but he was busy with tennis so he didn't really notice that she had been avoiding him too. With everything that was going on with Toby, she wasn't sure if she could kiss and laugh with him like she had been before she knew.

Spencer had put on a brave face and threw herself into other activities to get her mind off of things. She was determined more than ever, after the reminder that life was too short and you never knew how much time anyone had left, to be a good friend, student, and family member.

The girls had put together Alison's memorial the week before and the dedication surprisingly went off without a hitch, despite all the things working against it. There was now a beautiful spot in the park dedicated to Alison. A friend of Aria's mom had created a stunning fountain to sit by the bench they installed. The art tiles were all complete and the site was lined with colourful flowers. It looked perfect and Spencer and the other girls really felt like they were moving on from Alison's death after doing it.

It had only been a few days since they finished the memorial and Toby had gone missing, but Spencer was determined for nothing else to change. Life was too short and she wanted to make the most of it, even though some things would take time.

For now, life would go on, and she really wanted to get back to being a regular teenager. For example, the girls were crowded around Hanna's locker at school, convincing the blonde of the group that one side of her face was not in fact fatter than the other side.

It felt pretty normal-teenage-girl-talk to Spencer at least.

Spotting Ian Thomas down the hall, the school's new field hockey coach, she remembered back to when they first saw him last week.

He had come in during Alison's dedication. It had to be held inside in the school's multipurpose room because of the dreary weather. Spencer had been about to start the speeches and had to pause in surprise. She hadn't seen him since the fall after Alison went missing when he and Melissa broke up.

Regardless of the surprise interruption, and the fact that Jenna Marshall was speaking as per Jason DiLaurentis' approval, the dedication went on without issue. Jason had come to town for it and ended up completely taking over. It was his sister of course, but until then the girls had been handling the entire thing. It felt a little condescending that he pushed them to the side so easily when, without them, there wouldn't have been a dedication at all. They kept their mouths shut, respecting his position, but there was a little tension between the group at times.

Spencer ended up having a heart-to-heart with him the night before it was scheduled and came to understand that Jason was dealing with a lot. Doing the memorial, he admitted, was the hardest thing he had ever had to do. He needed closure, his family needed closure, but he didn't expect they ever would get it. She had suggested that maybe once they found the killer, but he brushed that theory aside.

He explained that his mother needed pills to sleep and sometimes she still would be up in the dead of night, walking around aimlessly. Even if it would help, he didn't have much trust in the police force. After all, with some minor probing from him earlier at school when Detective Wilden was opening Toby's locker, he revealed that Toby had called Alison the night she died, even if he shouldn't have let anybody know that private detail.

This was news to Spencer but it made her uneasy. Toby was the call that Alison took? No wonder she lied about who it was when Spencer asked.

More was revealed to Spencer though when Jason confessed that Alison had filled him in on The Jenna Thing and how it had been _Spencer's_ idea. Based on the look in Jason's eyes, she understood that he knew full well it hadn't been but that he would sell that story if need be. He and Alison really were alike, no matter how polished or different he seemed since going to an Ivy League.

The most shocking part of the entire event though was when Jason kindly passed over the silk pouch containing Alison's name bracelet after it all was over and explained that the police had given them that back when they found her body. It was with Alison when she had died.

Seeing as they found 'her' bracelet weeks ago on the ground in the woods, they all didn't know what to say. Someone had made a copy? Why would –A do that?

The girls discussing Ian brought Spencer out of her thoughts and back to present day.

Emily adjusted her books in her arms. "Does Melissa know he's back?"

"Why did she ever break up with him?" Hanna, always eager for gossip, asked.

Spencer grimaced. "She didn't—he broke up with her."

Mona approached suddenly and smiled brightly. She had black and white detailed cards in her hands, tied in the middle with yellow ribbon, and passed one to Hanna. "The first one's for my bestie. And one for each of you, my bestie's other friends." she explained, handing each of the girls one.

Aria began untying it. "Oh, what's this?"

"Oh, nothing. Only an invitation to the most awesome birthday party ever—_Camp Mona_." Mona gushed like she was announcing they all won an all-expense paid trip to their dream location.

"Camp _Mona_?" Aria recited back to her, more confused than enthused.

"Don't let the camping part scare you. It's '_glamping_' not camping. M is for Mona and massages, not mosquitos." Mona explained with flourish. Seeing two other girls no doubt on her list, she rushed off. "Oh, Naomi, Riley! Hey, wait up!"

Spencer had to laugh at Mona's antics once she was out of earshot. "Why is Mona inviting us to her birthday party?"

"She knows that we're friends again and she's just trying to reach out to you. She's trying to be nice!" Hanna defended, seeing how much of a kick they were getting out of this. "So are you going to go?"

Spend a weekend with Mona Vanderwaal and the other spoiled popular kids? Listen to her rag on people's style or choices of significant other or lipstick shade? It wasn't really high on Spencer's to-do list. Especially not with everything that was going on lately.

"I know she's your friend but…"

"Yeah, I'm gonna have to pass. I've got this…"

"Like a lot of stuff to do this weekend…"

"Me too…"

Hanna looked disappointed at all of them, but before she could argue, all of their phones simultaneously went off.

Spencer was the one to start reading the ominous message. "_Camp Mona's a scavenger hunt and I'm the prize_."

Hanna continued. "_Come and find me, bitches_."

"–_A_." the group finished in unison.

Well… looks like they were going 'glamping' on the weekend.

* * *

After class, Spencer met up with the other girls again. Mona's party was far from their minds this time though—the buzz around school was that the police were in the building. In a small town like this, there was only one obvious reason why they would be there.

Sure enough, the girls got the privilege of hearing their names radiate out of the PA system again.

Falling in line, they headed to the office and sat down on the leather couch the secretary instructed them to wait on.

They all were really quiet. Hanna was texting and the rest of them were just staring at their laps or the floorboards.

Spencer was not looking forward to another meeting with Wilden, but thankfully it was a different lady that entered the room with another man.

"Sorry to keep you waiting. I'm Agent Cooper." she explained, passing Spencer her business card.

Spencer's eyes widened at the label on it. "FBI?"

Agent Cooper just smiled. "This is my partner, Agent Randall, and we're here because the Bureau was asked by local authorities to assist in the investigation of Alison DiLaurentis' murder. I wanna show you something that was sent to the Rosewood Police Department by an anonymous source. The family has given me permission to show it to the four of you."

She held down play on the remote and the TV came to light.

Alison filled the screen. She was seated on a big rock and was smiling coyly at the camera. "_Wanna see more? I know you want to. If the girls knew I was seeing you… oh my god, they would not stop talking about it. I wish they were more mature but… We don't have a lot of time. I have to get back before they wake up."_ Her smile grew wider. "_I know you wanna kiss me_."

The video stopped.

Spencer let out a breath she hadn't realized she had been holding. They hadn't seen Alison talk like that in over a year. They had pictures but she at least hadn't watched any videos of Alison. It was like seeing a ghost. She felt a little rattled.

Agent Cooper got right down to business. "Is there anything you can tell me about what you see?"

Emily piped up. "They're at the kissing rock. It's in the woods behind the lake."

"I think this was taken the night that Alison disappeared. She was wearing that yellow top." Aria inputted.

"But that's not her sweater."

Cooped seemed surprised and looked to the blonde that had spoken. "Are you sure?"

"Ask me what's in each one of our closets and I'll give you an itemized list. I know clothes."

It was true. One time Spencer borrowed something of Melissa's and Hanna asked what Spencer did that Melissa allowed her the honour of borrowing her blouse. Spencer had simply gaped at her, especially since the blouse was tucked under a blazer at the time.

"I think she's talking to the older boy." Spencer added.

"So-called 'mystery boyfriend'?" Cooper clarified, clearly having read the homicide file in detail.

"Alison didn't want us to know who he was." she replied.

"Was he an older high school boy?"

Spencer sighed a little at the memory of the late teenage girl. "She only told me enough to make it a secret."

"Ah. Alison liked secrets." the FBI lady mused.

"She thought sharing secrets kept us close." Emily defended.

"They do. But secrets are made to be found out in time." she said wisely.

All four girls swallowed. They really hoped that wasn't true for _all_ secrets.

* * *

"How are you, Spencer? Really?" Emily asked as they walked back from Algebra a couple hours later. They were more than glad to have the FBI questioning over with, but being comforted by different letter variables was only nice for Spencer and even _she_ didn't seem very enthused.

She sighed. "I'm getting by."

"No news is good news, right?"

She nodded. "That's what I'm counting on."

Spencer suddenly spotted Hanna standing desolately in the middle of the hallway, looking rather lost and like she was on the verge of tears. Mona was calling Naomi and Riley to follow her like they were her dogs and it was obvious that she and Hanna had just had some sort of fight.

They approached her quickly as she turned around.

"What was that about?" Emily asked, looking over her shoulder to see the three girls chatting at the end of the hallway cattily.

Hanna's voice was almost shaky. "A sent Mona a text… and I think she just broke up with me."

"A sent MONA a text?!" Spencer exclaimed. Since when was A texting other people? Did that mean this was bigger than the four of them?

Hanna was too busy glaring over at the giggling trio. "I'm so over that bitch."

"I thought you guys were still close…" Emily said confusedly.

"Not Mona—A."

"What did it say?" Spencer asked. Maybe it was fixable. Hanna looked so upset.

"It doesn't really matter; it's all lies."

Spencer touched her arm sympathetically. "Hanna, I'm so sorry. I know that Mona is really important to you."

"She was my friend when you guys weren't." Hanna looked like she was going to go on, but bit her lip instead.

"Well, we're here now, so if you're not going to the party, then we're not going either." Emily assured her, Spencer nodding in agreement.

"No, you're going on that scavenger hunt! And I'm going too. A might be playing games, but I'm not." she stated defiantly before marching off to start her mastermind plan.

Spencer looked at Emily questioningly, wondering if they should be worried, but she shrugged.

"I think we have enough to worry about." she replied, obviously reading her mind.

That was something Spencer could definitely agree with. She followed her to her locker, trying not to cast a sad look down to Toby's old one.

* * *

Before Mona's party, the girls gathered in Spencer's storage room to pull out the camping gear. She had plenty to go around so that they all could sleep comfortably at the big party later that night. Hanna, of course, would be hiding out since she had been uninvited earlier, so the other girls probably wouldn't be staying for too long, but they had to at least look like they were there for the party. Even if Mona was getting texts from A now, they were determined to keep the whole A business under wraps.

Deciding to sift through the stuff upstairs, they each grabbed a cardboard box and brought it upstairs to the kitchen.

…And right into an argument between Melissa and Ian who had clearly just arrived.

"You broke up with me, remember?" she was saying, arms crossed, while he looked like a guilty puppy.

"I just want to take you out for coffee." he promised.

She rolled her eyes and then noticed the four teenagers. "You guys are going camping? Cute." she said in her usual more subtle sarcastic manner, turning away and heading upstairs, leaving Ian hanging.

That morning, Melissa had come into the kitchen and had been overly sweet to Spencer for the first time in months. She had been stone cold to her since everything had gone down with Wren, and suddenly she was saying good morning and offering her juice. Spencer had called her out on it and her big sister cut to the chase and asked why she hadn't told her about Ian being back. Reminding her that the pair of them talking wasn't normal, Spencer also went on to explain that she hadn't even talked to Ian since he had been back, just seen him at the memorial. Melissa told her that Ian asked her out for coffee, but that she said no since he had broken her heart the year before and she was still getting over Wren. Spencer used the opportunity to apologize, yet again, for the Wren thing, and although Melissa didn't look entirely convinced when she left, Spencer had hope that they could mend things between them after all. She at least hadn't bitten her head off for it for the first time, which was definite progress.

Now was a good time to strike while the iron of forgiveness was hot. Spencer chased after her without blinking an eye. "Wait! Wait. Hey, wait!"

"What?"

Spencer looked back at Ian for a moment. "Maybe you should give him a chance."

"And you're suddenly looking out for me because…?"

"I don't know when this war between us started, Melissa, but can't it just be over? I'm only sixteen and I'm tired." she told her honestly. She would love to become the kind of sisters she had always envied… or at least civil ones. She didn't need Melissa to be her best friend, but she'd at least like to have her as an ally instead of a constant enemy.

"Is this you trying to fix what you broke with Wren?" Melissa challenged.

Spencer looked down in shame. She had messed up badly with Wren, there was no denying that, but she also had messed up with Ian. She had let him kiss her last summer and had never shared it with Melissa. She was sure Ian hadn't either, despite the fact that he stayed with her.

"No. I'm just trying to do the right thing." Ever since Toby had disappeared, she really wanted to better all aspects of her life. She was sick of her family drama dragging her down so much. And maybe if she could get Melissa back with her first love, maybe it could negate all the bad blood between them involving boys.

Melissa sighed and finally listened. She started down the stairs, looking at Ian seriously. "Coffee, that's it."

"Okay." he agreed readily, flashing a half-smile at Spencer before following her out of the door.

Spencer returned it with a small nod before going back over to her friends.

"Since when are you mending Melissa's relationships?" Aria asked. The three of them looked rather surprised by her sudden involvement.

Spencer grimaced. "I kind of owe it to her."

"What's she ever done for you?" Emily inquired, knowing very well how much rivalry there had always been between the two Hastings sisters.

"It's more about did I do to her. I'm the reason she and Wren broke up. We had a moment and Melissa saw us." she admitted, busying her hands to avoid their eyes.

"A moment?" Emily asked, but she already knew the answer to she meant by that like the other girls. Hanna, for one, had seen a similar moment firsthand outside of the motel when she dropped Wren off.

"Yeah. It gets worse. Melissa doesn't know this part, but I also had a moment with Ian…"

She could just feel the shame licking up and down her skin.

"Shut up!" Hanna exclaimed.

All of the girls had a crush on Ian growing up. He was one of the most popular guys in Rosewood High and was always sweet and charming to them when he was over. Plenty of the times when he used to come over, the five of them would gawk; although Alison usually was the one to tell them to grow up.

"It was near the end of the summer before Alison went missing. It was just one kiss, but after they broke up, he wanted us to start seeing each other. I said no, because I was still hopeful for me and Toby. I mean I only kissed him because I missed Toby, but still. I feel like the poster child for poor judgment." she mumbled.

Emily smiled sympathetically. "You could have told us, Spencer."

"Really? Because Ali knew about the first kiss and she thought I was awful." she told them, remembering the way Alison had called her a skank that day and how much she hounded her about it every opportunity after that.

"Well we're not Ali." Aria reminded her sweetly.

Spencer knew she was right. They weren't judgmental or snarky the way Alison was. After all, when she first told them she was dating Toby they all were pretty open to it. Alison was the only one who claimed him as a freak of nature.

Thinking back to her mending relationship with her sister, she wondered if honesty was the best policy in regards to telling her about her time with Ian. After all, lying had never gotten her anywhere good. But if Melissa was only just forgiving her for Wren, admitting that it wasn't the first time she had 'tried to steal' her boyfriend wouldn't exactly put her on her Christmas list. "I should _not_ tell Melissa about this, right?" she wondered aloud.

The other three smirked. "Right." they said in unison.

Hanna's eyes suddenly focused on the screen behind her. "Spencer, turn the TV up!"

Spencer snatched up the remote and hit the volume up several times as the news reporter's voice filled the room.

"_Authorities searched the family home earlier today and initial reports have confirmed that a blood stain on the sweater is a match to the victim's. If you just tuned in, police have issued a warrant for the arrest of missing Rosewood teen Toby Cavanaugh. He is wanted for the murder of Alison DiLaurentis_."

Spencer felt her insides chill to an ice.

Hanna's mouth fell open. "That sweater was Toby's."

"No, Alison was not dating Toby. There is no way that that's the guy she's talking to in the video. Toby was with you then!" Aria exclaimed, looking at Spencer with wide eyes, but her friend was simply frozen in shock.

"Toby did NOT kill Alison." Spencer finally spoke, but she had to sit on the stool because her legs were suddenly like jelly.

Alison's blood was on Toby's sweater? How did Alison get his sweater? Was that why Alison was so against Spencer dating Toby? Because she wanted to be the one? Or because she already was dating him?

No, Toby wouldn't have been the way he was with her if he was into girls like Alison. Plus he always was so guarded around the queen bee or when she was brought up. Spencer doubted that was the guilt of an affair but rather the dislike of the girl herself.

"Spencer, you saw the news. They have proof." Hanna told her gently, but she looked upset to be saying so. "If it's Toby's sweater, then he has to be the boy at the kissing rock."

Spencer grew suddenly exasperated. "So it's his sweater! So what?! It doesn't mean he killed her."

"Spence-"

"No. He may have done some questionable things and he may not be a fan of me but you don't know him the way I do. He doesn't have it in him to kill. He's gentle… and kind-hearted...and..." Spencer stopped herself. "Look, it wasn't him, okay?"

Emily was watching Spencer carefully. "So we're back where we started, with not knowing who did it. But if the police really believe it… is the investigation now over?"

"No. Toby's been missing for weeks. It won't be over for them until he's behind bars." Spencer replied tiredly.

She looked around at the piles of stuff. "Um… take whatever you guys need. I think I'm going to go lay down for a little bit… I'm suddenly not feeling very well…" she lied, not looking at them as she hurried upstairs to her bedroom.

She didn't glance back, but she was sure they were all watching her worriedly.

* * *

Spencer crawled onto her bed and pulled the blanket sitting at the end over her. Hugging a pillow tightly to her chest, she let the tears fall. Toby was wanted for murder? When had she fallen into this life?

She was done with her doubts about Toby. All of this piling evidence… she couldn't believe it. None of it. And if everything was true, she was going to hear it out of Toby's mouth or she wasn't going to believe a word of it. She knew who Toby was, and maybe that had changed, but maybe it hadn't.

She knew, now that he was missing, exactly how much her heart still was holding out hope for him to be the guy she knew him to be. Spencer had to have faith that he would come back, clear his name, that he was innocent. If he could do that, she would fight with him. Help him. And then if he still wanted nothing to do with her, they could go their separate ways, but right now she just needed to know some truth. All of these lies swirling around were driving her insane.

"Spence?" Aria's small voice called from her doorway.

Spencer didn't roll over to look at her, trying to suck back her tears. She didn't want the girls to know she was crying, but she figured it was pretty obvious with the way she had jetted out of there in such a rush.

"Spencer…" Aria repeated, coming around to the opposite side of the bed and lying down to face her best friend. "Hanna and Emily left. We all know you need some time to yourself. But we want you to know we're here for you. Despite your brave face, we all know you still have feelings for Toby and that, even with Alex, you still miss him."

Spencer wiped at her face embarrassedly while Aria cuddled closer and took her hand in hers. "I just… I want to know the truth. I couldn't have been that wrong about him."

Aria scooted closer. "Spence… I want to tell you something. I know I've been pretty skeptical about Toby lately, but I've just been so freaked out by everything and it made me forget to use my brain. Thinking back to that day we saw you two together in Philadelphia… there's no way Toby is the guy the police are saying he is. There's just been so many lies circling around that we all don't know what to believe. I'm sorry if I haven't been very good of a friend. I knew how much he meant to you, but I also know how much _you_ meant to _him_. There's no way he's as evil as they're making him out to be."

Something about her confession sparked Spencer's interest. "How do you know how much I meant to him?"

Aria smiled. "We had a little heart-to-heart about you when we went in to order coffee that day."

Spencer had to laugh, her tears drying now. "What do you mean?"

"Well I told him that I was happy you guys were hitting it off so well and he asked for advice on how to make it last. He was just so sincere… you can read everything in those baby blues. I really think he had fallen just as hard for you as you did for him, if not harder. And someone that cares so much for another person… how sweet he was with you there and on the train… there's no way he could hurt anyone."

Spencer sighed now. "I know. I was so stupid to doubt him for so long. I just… this whole A business has me so paranoid and rattled. I only knew him about a week and then he was gone and then he comes back and he's so different… I don't know why I believed so many of Ali's lies. I just don't know what is truth or fiction anymore."

"I know. But hopefully, Toby will come back and we'll be able to all figure out what really happened that summer."

Spencer nodded, but saw Aria's eyes darting around guiltily. "What?"

The smaller girl grimaced. "I just… are you still with Alex?"

Spencer exhaled. "Yes. I really like Alex. I don't think Toby and I will ever be able to be what we were, but maybe we can at least be allies long enough to find out the truth of what happened last summer."

Aria seemed to understand. "We'll figure it out, Spence. I promise."

Spencer cuddled into her friend. She really hoped so.

* * *

Toby was cold.

It was another dreary night. He was on his own again and he was short on cash so he was sleeping on city benches, at bus stations or outside in the woods. It hadn't been a comfortable getaway, but he did what he had to to get by. Jackson had left after three days and he had been on his own ever since.

The first night it hadn't been so bad, but the days following only got lonelier. He swore his back was going to be permanently kinked from the odd surfaces he had been sleeping on and he was grateful the few times he could plug in his phone to charge. He tended to keep it off to save the battery in case he wouldn't be anywhere with a plug for an extended period of time, but he also used it to tell time. There was something so dehumanizing about not having any idea what time of day it was.

Toby had made the decision after he and Jackson parted ways that he needed to go back to Rosewood. Not permanently, but to talk to Spencer. He knew it was risky, especially since he caught the news the other night and knew there was a warrant out for his arrest because of that damned sweater he lent Alison, but he had to see her. He had to know it really was over. He knew there was no way he would be able to move on until he knew for sure that there was no hope for them. He had seen that look she had given him that day they cleaned up his books. She still felt something between them. And there was no way she was that mad at him at homecoming unless there was some jealousy involved.

When he got to Spencer's house, she was gone. It didn't look like anyone was home. What was he going to do now?

He decided to go with his Plan B. He really didn't want to go this route, since it was too risky, but he had to make sure Emily was okay too. The last time he had seen her she was bleeding from a head wound and unconscious. Although he would never feel for her the way he did for Spencer, he still cared about her as a friend and wanted to be sure she was all right.

Toby hid behind some bushes, watching as Emily left her house and began packing up her car with what looked like camping supplies. She left one of the back doors open as she ran back inside no doubt to grab something. He took that as his chance and slipped in the back, using his leather jacket to cover his head and hopefully blend in with the seats better. If she found him before she left, she might scream and cause a ruckus and Jenna would be over there to steal him faster than you can say 'evil'.

He couldn't believe when she actually started driving away and heading on her route. How could she not see him? Didn't she know the golden rule of driving was to always check your back seat? Had she forgotten that she left the backdoor open? Because it had been Toby that closed it, not her.

Toby was starting to feel awkward. He knew he wasn't helping his creepy rep by hiding in the backseats of cars. He really hadn't expected Emily to not notice him the _entire_ drive to wherever she was going. He was crossing his fingers that she was going to wherever Spencer was, but he wasn't sure he would be that lucky.

Man, this car was so comfy compared to what he had been sleeping on he might just take a nap…

Before he let his eyes droop, Emily put the car in park.

It was now or never.

He sat up, causing her to notice the movement in her rear-view mirror and gasp in fear.

He tried to get her to understand through his eyes that he wasn't there to hurt her. Taking a deep breath, he explained as simply as he could why he was there.

"I want to finish what I started to tell you at homecoming."


	19. Chapter 19

_SO sorry for the delay. Can't promise I'll be super quick with updates but I do have the next few chapters done. They just require some tweaking. The details of what gets talked about in this chapter really influence what I'll have them talking about in future chapters so I wanted to make sure I wasn't backed into a corner._

_My plan is to have this story done by September but I'm not sure if that's going to happen. It might have to be the end of September. In my writing, I'm at about 116 now so I still have at least six chapters after that one if not more, which will put this story at about 32 chapters. Just as a headsup._

_Enjoy!_

**I do not own Pretty Little Liars.**

* * *

Emily simply gaped at him for a moment.

"How did you… where did you… we thought you were dead!"

He grimaced. "Sorry… you left your backdoor open and I needed to talk to you alone. I really thought you'd notice me before now to be honest…"

"Well my mind is kind of wrapped up in other things."

"You should really always check your backseat before you leave. I could've been a murderer!" he said, then immediately shut up at his comment. Last time they spoke, she had been convinced he was.

Emily looked just as uncomfortable for the reminder. "I'm supposed to meet my friends so we have to do this quickly."

He nodded. Things must have changed since he left. She seemed to trust him more at the very least. He climbed out of the car after her and headed into the trees a bit for cover. He didn't want anyone to notice him and call the cops. That was the last thing he needed right now.

Once they were settled a little ways away from the parked Toyota, he inhaled to begin. "Look, I know things have been pretty confusing since the night of Jenna's accident and Alison's disappearance. I think we're all still looking for the truth of what happened both of those nights."

Emily nodded.

"I don't know what Spencer told you, or Alison, but I think I need to clear the air about what happened the night of the fire. I took the fall to protect Spencer. Alison made it clear that she could shift all of the blame onto her and I knew that Spencer would never survive in a place like the one I went to. Alison made me believe that her parents wouldn't risk tainting the family name to try to help her out of it, and I couldn't risk her being ostracized from her family when I knew how important they were."

Emily gaped at him. "Toby, I don't think I should be the one you tell this to. You need to talk to Spencer."

"I know. I wanted to. But she wasn't home when I went there and I can't risk going into too much of the public eye. Please, Emily, you need me to help her get her back."

"You want to be with her?"

He stepped forwards. "It's the only reason I came back to Rosewood. I knew how I'd be treated after reform school, but Spencer is worth it. She's the only thing that got me through that year. I came home to win her back."

She was shaking her head in confusion. "But what about the night Ali disappeared? What about your fight at the beginning of the year?"

Toby grimaced. "I let Alison manipulate me into believing Spencer would be better off without me. She wasn't wrong—my reputation isn't going to help her and I've certainly done a fine job of screwing up since I returned, but still. I fought with her in September because I saw her with Wren and realized she had moved on. I was just jealous and angry seeing her with someone else, someone so much better suited for her despite his relationship status, and I took it out on her. It was stupid of me."

"Why did you ask me to homecoming then if you wanted to be with her?"

"Spencer had told me about her and Alex. I knew she still had her doubts about me. Early on, when I caught Ben in the locker room with you, I had been going to ask you for your help. After we got paired up in Chemistry, I thought I'd have my chance to explain myself, but I started to befriend you for real. I admit my reasons for asking you to homecoming weren't purely because I knew I'd have fun with you. A part of me wanted to make Spencer jealous, but mostly I wanted the opportunity to be alone with you and be able to explain my story. But of course, it all went to hell."

"Look, Spencer is at this party. You need to tell this all to her."

"I can't risk it, Em. You see how bad it looks. I know she was convinced I was Ali's killer, but I've never laid a hand on Alison DiLaurentis. I've already risked too much coming all the way out here with you. If anyone sees me…"

"You can't keep running."

"I need to get as far away from here as I can."

Emily sighed, checking her phone. "If I don't go to this party, my friends are going to know something's wrong."

He stepped forward. "Emily… you need to talk to Spencer for me. Please. And I need you to believe me. If you believe me, maybe Spencer will. Spencer believing me… its all that matters. I only came back to clear the air with her."

"Back from where?"

"I spent a year in reform school. I've got friends in all the wrong places. And misery loves company."

"So you're still going to run away? What if she _does_ believe you?"

"Then that will change things. But for right now, it's too dangerous for me to stay any longer. I have to go."

"But I still have so many questions…"

"I left my stuff behind the church. If there's any way you can come… my ride's not picking me up until midnight. Please don't tell your friends. I know they're doubtful of me and you know they'll call the cops. But Spencer deserves the truth. If nothing else, at least she'll be able to move on knowing that she never did anything wrong."

Toby could feel Emily's sad eyes on him as he took off into the trees.

* * *

"Welcome to Camp Mona!"

Aria and Spencer could not measure up to the excitement exuberated from the perky brunette. Mona sashayed up to them and smiled brightly in greeting.

"Happy birthday!" Aria managed, passing over her gift with Spencer following her lead and doing the same.

"Whatever it is, I'm sure I'll love it, and if not, I'll return it." Mona told them, adding them to the growing pile and stepping over to grab the full pink-and-black totes on another table. Aria and Spencer shared an amused look. Mona was something else. "Swag!"

They accepted the proffered Camp Mona totes.

"Thanks." Aria, always polite, replied.

Spencer pulled out the black hoodie emblazoned with pink lettering spelling out 'Camp Mona' on the back. "Oh, it's… subtle."

Mona's beam didn't waver despite the twist on sarcasm. "Okay, tour time. So over here, we have the massage tent, the mani/pedi area, the blow-me bar, and the mini-bar." she said, pointing to each area. She suddenly sighed. "Excuse me." She marched away from them towards the server by the baked goods table. "Um, did I just see you eat a _cookie_?"

Spencer chuckled with Aria before linking arms with her and moving forward into the party.

"Where's Em?" the little one asked, scanning the group of girls for their swimmer friend.

But speak of the devil, Emily was at the outskirts and handing Mona her gift, accepting the tote and thankfully spotting them right away.

"We need to talk. Privately, come on." she said in an undertone as a way of greeting and pulled them into one of the spa-like tents that was empty.

"What is going on?"

"I just talked to Toby."

Spencer's heart thudded in her chest at the sound of his name and the implication of what she was saying.

"He's-he's okay?"

Emily nodded, smiling slightly. "He's definitely got some bruises and scratches, but he seems fine."

Spencer felt like she could breathe for the first time in two weeks. Toby was alive. He was okay.

"He came back to tell me that he didn't hurt Ali-"

Spencer lit up. "Good! We just need to prove his innocence now! Where is he?"

"He left. There were too many people around. There's a warrant out for his arrest after all…"

"You know, Emily's right. As much as I don't want to turn him in, we have a legal obligation, Spence. We have to tell the police." Aria said sympathetically.

Spencer practically glared at her. "No! Not until we find some way to prove he didn't do this."

"That's not really up to us, Spencer. And that might take weeks. He's already been on the run for two. He's leaving again tonight at midnight and meeting up with another reform school buddy."

She looked like she was about to say something else, but Aria's phone suddenly rang.

"It's Hanna." Aria said. "Hey."

The other two couldn't hear what she was saying, but Aria glanced out of the tent at the birthday girl.

"Uh… she's Mona." Pause. "Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

She glanced at the pair of them. "Hanna, listen, Emily saw Toby…"

Aria pulled back her phone to look at the call status. "God, service out here sucks…" Her phone beeped, signalling a text. Her already-huge eyes widened. "It's from A. _You found my bracelet, now come find me. Good luck, bitches_."

"I think we're supposed to go where we found Ali's bracelet." Emily said.

"That was in the middle of nowhere." Aria reminded her.

Spencer shook her head. "No, actually, it was 15 steps east of the half-point tree, which is 136 steps from the main road." she calculated aloud.

Aria and Emily stared at her.

"You're a freak and I love you." Aria told her seriously as the three leaped up to go there.

Mona suddenly entered the tent.

"Emily, Aria, your turn to get blown." she told them happily, leading the way.

Spencer spoke to them in an undertone. "Well, it has to look like we're here for the party, so go glamp… I'll be back before it gets dark."

And she set off to find the first clue of their –A scavenger hunt.

Upon her return, Aria and Emily's hair had grown significant inches from their blow-drying experience.

She had to hold back a laugh. "_Wow_." she said amusedly, drawing out the word.

Aria glowered at her. "Shut up."

"What happens when you touch it?" Spencer teased.

"Did you find anything?"

Spencer looked around to see if anyone was watching and led them so they were a little hidden. "Check it out." She held up the purple fabric bracelet. This one had JENNA embroidered across.

"Is Jenna telling us that she's A?"

"I don't think so. There's something else. _You're as in the dark as Jenna. Looking for me in all the wrong places._" Spencer read the note that was placed inside the fabric pouch.

"Well, if this is the wrong place, then what's the right place?" Aria asked in confusion.

Neither Spencer or Emily had an answer for her.

"Manicures, ladies!" Mona sing-songed at them as she passed, linking arms with Aria.

Emily grabbed Spencer's arm. "Spencer. There's something you need to know. Toby didn't just come back to tell me he was innocent. He came back to talk about you."

Spencer stopped walking and stared. "What are you talking about?"

"Spencer, he begged me to convince you to talk to him. He wants to clear the air with you. He wants to explain everything."

Spencer stood in a state of shock. She didn't know what to say.

Emily smiled sympathetically at her, understanding that it was a lot to take in suddenly. "It's getting late. Any word from Hanna yet?"

Spencer checked her phone. No word from the –A watcher. Seeing the time, Spencer bit her lip. It was getting later and they still were as lost as before. They needed answers. _She_ needed answers. And she knew who she really needed answers from.

* * *

Toby had made it to the Rosewood Church and was grateful that there seemed to be no one around. He had his duffel bag ready to go and just needed to wait for his ride to arrive in a couple hours. He wondered if Emily would come later or not. He knew he hadn't answered all the questions she had yet, but he would have to come back when the media had died down a little. It was just too risky right now. He was stupid to come back, but he wanted to know if he and Spencer had a chance. With the way that Emily spoke to him, he had a feeling that may be true.

He hoped Emily would come so he could know for sure. He would've spoken to Spencer himself if she hadn't been surrounded by people at that party. Even if she didn't believe him to be a killer, he doubted she'd be willing to risk herself around him right now. She had lawyers for parents—she knew how badly she could be penalized for associating with him.

Hearing a noise, he flattened himself against the building, trying to blend in to the bushes he was hiding behind. But then the figure stepped out from the trees and he gaped, unconsciously stepping forwards.

"Spencer."

* * *

Spencer stepped forward from the trees, running her eyes over his form. His hair had gotten too long, but she supposed that was from being on the run. It's not like he'd be getting regular haircuts.

"Toby." she breathed back, unable to believe that he was really okay. She had spent so many nights wondering about him, wondering if he was alive or how bad the accident had affected him. But he was fine. He was right there.

"I-I didn't expect to see you here."

"Would you prefer Emily?"

"No! I mean, I'm really happy to see you." he explained quickly.

She smiled a little. "I'm really happy you're okay. I thought, when they found your motorcycle…" she trailed off.

Toby slowly walked towards her, surprised at the emotions that crossed her face. Hesitantly, he touched her arm. She jumped in surprise and he retracted his hand like it was burned. But Spencer looked up at him, into those blue eyes, and saw all she needed to. She stepped forwards until she was in his personal bubble and slowly melted into a hug. He wrapped his arms around her, breathing a sigh of relief. He had longed to hold her for so long.

She pressed her face into his shoulder, squeezing him. He grunted and she pulled back. "Oh god, I'm sorry. You're probably really sore, aren't you?"

He grimaced. Her squeeze had sent a shooting pain across his ribcage. "Just a couple fractured ribs and plenty of bruises. I'll be okay. My friend patched me up some."

She nodded and then seemed to realize what they were doing and took an extra step back. "I really need to talk to you. I need answers. I need to know what happened the night Ali died."

"You think I killed her?" he asked, his relief from before washing away and being replaced with hurt.

But wait, would she have really hugged him if she thought he killed her best friend?

"No, Toby. I don't." she said seriously. "But I do have questions about that night."

"Ask me anything and I'll tell you the truth."

A big part of her had an urge to ask about them, their relationship, because she knew there were lies in there somewhere, but now wasn't the time. She needed to focus on the murder of her best friend and revealing who –A was.

"Why was Alison wearing your sweater? Why did you meet her at the Kissing Rock?"

Toby looked confused. Kissing Rock? "After you and I… had our conversation… I went through the woods. I walked around for god knows how long before getting myself turned around and ending up outside your barn again. Ali was outside, waiting for her ride. I gave her my sweater because it was cold. When I left her, she was getting in the car with some guy… still wearing my sweater. She was very much alive."

Spencer seemed to accept that. "Did you see the driver? Or what kind of car it was?"

He shook his head. "It was too dark. The car was a dark colour too, so I'm not sure."

"Okay. I believe you."

Those words sent a warm rush over his skin.

"You never looked in anyone's windows, did you?"

"Never."

"And you were looking in mine the night Wren and I kissed because…?"

"Spencer…" He wasn't sure if she was ready for the answer to that question.

"You said to ask you anything and you'd tell me the truth." she reminded him, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes stubbornly.

God she was beautiful. He forgot how adorable she looked when she was arguing.

"That's a heavier question than you realize. It opens up a huge can of worms and I'm not sure you're ready for it all tonight."

"Fine. If you can't answer that, then why were you spying on Emily in the locker room?"

"I wasn't. I went to talk to her after her swim practice and I saw Ben enter the room and then heard their scuffle. I went in to tear him off of her."

"And you beat him up because…?"

"Because I know what it feels like to be forced into something you don't want to do. I wasn't going to let that happen to someone else when I had the power to stop it." he explained.

Spencer looked down sadly. She should've known. She was right to believe what he had said about Jenna and his relationship. She couldn't believe she had doubted him.

"It wasn't the smartest decision I ever made, but it is what it is." he said finally. "Reform school has given me bad habits for solving disputes."

"Toby…" Spencer said slowly, her eyes welling with tears. "I'm sorry you had to go there. I'm sorry I made you hate me so much you'd rather put yourself through that than be near me-"

But Toby cut her off. "What are you talking about?"

Her face morphed into confusion. "The reason why you decided to take the fall for The Jenna Thing… was because you wanted to get away from me, wasn't it?"

Spencer had that familiar doubting feeling in her belly again. She hadn't wanted to believe Alison then, but she had. Why? Because she was too full of teenage insecurities to believe that someone as sweet and special as Toby could ever care for her the way she did him?

Toby stared at her in shock. "Spencer, I took the fall to protect you. Alison practically blackmailed me into it, claiming that she would shift all the blame onto you and that even your parents wouldn't back you up. I couldn't risk you losing your family and going through all of that. She had told me that she let Jason know of the plan, for insurance, so that even if I spoke up she'd have someone else backing her story. I was nervous at first that it had been your idea like she said, but I knew of Alison's manipulative ways and I knew you would never hurt anyone like that. I told Alison to tell you…"

He stopped talking, looking down now. It was too early. He didn't want to overstep and come on too strong when they were only on the very first stair towards the ascend to civility.

"Tell me what?" Spencer asked, but her words were drowned out by sirens suddenly roaring down the street.

Toby tensed and Spencer clung onto him instinctively.

He plucked her off of him. "Spencer, you need to get out of here. Now."

"No, I'm not leaving you! You're innocent! You can't go to jail for something you didn't do! I won't let them take you!"

"Spencer, you have to. Please, get out of here. You'll be associated with a murder suspect and be charged for not telling them of my whereabouts. I'm not dragging you into this. Run!"

"Toby-"

The police cars were pulling up now, screeching to a halt.

"Spencer, if you care about me at all, you will go. I can't lose you again. Please." he begged, caressing her face to wipe away her fallen tears.

She nodded finally, turning her head to kiss his palm, and then raced off into the trees behind the church before they could spot her.

The officers approached him with their guns raised. They were pointing directly at his chest, letting him know silently that he made one wrong move and his life would literally be robbed from him. Toby raised his hands in the air and one stepped forward to yank them behind his back and cuff him.

Pushing him towards the car, the officer ducked his head forcefully and closed the backdoor.

Now what?

* * *

After getting back from watching Toby get taken away for the second time in her life, Spencer didn't even bother searching for her friends. She was in full blown detective mode. She would find out who A was. Clear Toby's name. Put an end to all of this madness. Where the hell was the right place?

Despite the weird looks she was getting as she sat around the campfire, she continued muttering the words under her breath as she tried to decipher the hidden meaning.

"_Looking for me in all the wrong places… looking for me in all the wrong places…_"

Aria's comment popped into her head. _'Where's the right place?'_

And that's when it clicked.

"Here." Spencer said to the random blonde next to her, passing her the marshmallow roasting stick and bolting away to find the other two.

She spotted Emily first. "Hey, where's Aria?"

"I don't know." Emily said honestly.

"We have to go to the Wright place. W-R-I-G-H-T." Spencer said with a happy grin, hoping she'd catch on.

Emily didn't disappoint. "Wright's playground!"

"Yeah!" Spencer exclaimed, glad someone else was as enthusiastic as her, and she grabbed her arm as they headed off in that direction.

They passed through the woods and walked through the playground, looking for clues of some sort. Another object of Ali's? An ominous message in the sand?

They both found their eyes drawn towards a tree bordering the centre of the playground.

"Emily." Spencer said, suddenly spotting the engraved name in the wood surrounded by a big heart, but the moss was covering the name below.

Picking up a stick, Emily scratched it away. "Alison loves… Ian?"

Spencer's eyes increased in diameter. She certainly wasn't expecting that one.

Their phones suddenly beeped, but it wasn't –A, it was Hanna.

_I know who A is. Meet me in the parking lot._

Without more than a glance between them, they raced off. Once they got to the top of the hill, they nearly careened into Aria.

"Where were you?" Emily asked.

"Huh? Oh.. um nowhere. You guys got Hanna's text?" Aria clarified as they all hurried forwards, searching the dark area with their flashlights.

"Yeah, that's why we're here."

"Hanna?" Spencer called out, and then they all zoned in on the blonde hiding behind a parked car.

She looked around at the sound of her name.

"We're over here!" Aria called.

Smiling in relief at finally spotting the three of them, she started off in their direction.

Once she was halfway across, headlights took over lighting the parking lot. The silver car, acting as the beacon, was driving too fast. It was heading straight for her and she didn't seem to have noticed it.

"Hanna!" Aria shouted.

Emily gasped. "Watch out!"

Hanna stopped, eyes wide, as the car continued speeding in her direction.

"Hanna, look-"

The words died in Spencer's throat as the bumper crashed into her friend, sending her rolling over the top and collapsing on the ground. The car sped off. It was too dark to see anything, but their eyes were on the unconscious teen.

They were all racing towards her now, calling her name.

"Hanna!"

"Oh my god! Call 911!" Spencer instructed as they fell to their knees next to her.

Her eyes were closed.

Emily got through to the responder. "There's been an accident. We're at the Camp Rosewood parking lot. Please hurry."

Spencer was trying to stay calm, but she couldn't help but panic. "She's not breathing!"

"Hanna." Aria was repeating, trying to get her attention.

They were all desperate for her to wake up, groan, complain, crack an inappropriate joke, anything, but she wasn't responding. She couldn't be… no…

The three of their cell phones began ringing.

"Oh please no." Emily whispered.

Aria choked out the message. "_She knew too much. –A._"

Spencer's tears didn't stop now. "Somebody! Help!" she screamed. She didn't care who it was that came, as long as they could save Hanna. She couldn't lose Hanna. Not now, not ever, and not like this.

But Hanna wasn't waking up.

* * *

Toby was shoved unceremoniously into the barred cell. He knew they weren't required to be gentle by any means, but the brute force wasn't exactly helping his ailing body.

He sat gingerly on the excuse of a bed, which really was more like an elevated cookie sheet, and averted his eyes from the glaring officer who brought him in.

"She was only fifteen years old… a young girl who barely started her life… how dare you play God." the man snarled.

Toby remained quiet. He knew it was better to keep his mouth shut when it came to legal matters. His public defender had advised him before that even if what he said was true it could get twisted and come back to bite him. That's why he wasn't even going to deny the accusations, despite his desire to.

Seeing that Toby wasn't falling for it, the officer left.

Toby buried his face in his hands. He had already done reform school once. Getting nailed for manslaughter would be much worse. He didn't know what would happen to him now, but he knew it couldn't be good.

* * *

_Also: Anyone sending Bree hate? You better damn well be ashamed of yourself. You've hurt a beautiful, lovely human being who has FEELINGS and whose decision to delete fanfiction was NOT easy. How dare you make it harder on her. You make me sick._


	20. Chapter 20

_Thank you for the awesome feedback and all of the wonderful support! I love you guys. You officially pushed the reviews on this story to over 300! That's INSANE! That's never happened to me! I cannot thank you enough! x3_

_This chapter isn't as exciting because it's mostly just filler to move things along. But I do include an original Spanna scene for all those that enjoy that friendship :)_

**I do not own Pretty Little Liars.**

* * *

They had watched Hanna get hauled away in an ambulance. It all seemed so surreal. Their normally chatty and full of life friend unconscious and lifeless just didn't seem plausible. They weren't even sure if she was going to make it.

By now, the disturbance had gathered a crowd. Spencer had screamed for help until her throat hurt too much and the tears took over, but the paramedics had jumped in and gave her some hope. They had to believe Hanna would be okay. They couldn't lose another friend. Not like this.

Spencer made sure Emily was in an okay state of mind to drive to the hospital before she headed off to her car. Aria had lagged behind for some reason, but eventually caught up and climbed in the passenger seat of Spencer's SUV.

They didn't talk. Spencer was grateful. She needed to focus all of her attention on getting them there safely and not breaking down. She had to be strong. She knew Emily and Aria were counting on her for that. She wasn't even letting her mind drift to her concern over Toby, over what he could be going through right then, because it would've been too much to handle and she probably would've ended up running them right off the road in her despair.

Even though they had seen each other minutes before, Spencer rushed into Emily's arms in a hug when they met up in the waiting room in the unit the paramedics told them Hanna would be taken. She knew Emily of all people would be having the hardest time with this and she had had to drive alone.

Emily squeezed her back tightly. It seemed they all needed a little reassurance that the rest of them were alive and well.

"We should call our parents. Let them know what's going on." Aria suggested as they paced the empty room.

The other two agreed so they began the agonizing calls.

Emily and Aria both got a hold of their moms, but Spencer got her mother's voicemail, so she had no choice but to leave a message. Still feeling like she needed to talk to someone, and knowing that Toby was out of the picture, she dialed Alex's number.

"Spencer? What is it? It's kind of late…" Alex's confused voice came.

Despite her earlier altercation with Toby, Spencer was still happy to hear her boyfriend's voice on the other end of the line sounding so concerned about her. She felt herself exhale.

"I just… needed someone to talk to. I'm sorry. I hope I'm not bothering you."

"What's going on?"

"Hanna… we were at a party and she got hit by a car. They just drove off afterwards, we don't even know who it was, but the ambulance came and took her away." she admitted, feeling her lip begin to tremble. "We're at the hospital now in the waiting room."

Alex sounded so upset. "Oh god, Spencer, that's awful. How is she?"

"She was unconscious; we couldn't talk to her. That's why we want to wait. Maybe they'll let us see her or something."

Spencer paused, seeing Ashley Marin coming down the hall with Lucas Gottesman of all people.

"Um, let me call you back when I know something. Bye Alex."

Aria was the first to speak. "Is she okay, Mrs. Marin?"

She nodded. "She is going to be all right. She um… has a broken leg and a broken ankle, bruised ribs, and they might have to uh… remove her spleen…"

The poor woman was fighting back tears. It was obvious that seeing her daughter that way was traumatizing for her.

She turned to Spencer and seemed to gather her nerve. "What happened?" she demanded.

Spencer glanced at the others, wondering how much they should share.

"Hanna was coming across the parking lot and this car just came out of nowhere." Aria said, sticking to the simple.

"The police found the car and said it was stolen from the campground lot." Mrs. Marin explained.

"Did they catch the driver?" Emily asked earnestly.

"No, not yet."

"Do they have any leads?" Spencer persisted.

The redhead shook her head. "No. Although, they know it wasn't Toby Cavanaugh, since they picked him up last night."

"What?" Emily shouted in shock, clearly upset by this news.

"One of the officers told me… they found him hiding in town and they were bringing him into the station when they got the call about Hanna." Ashley explained. Looking at them sympathetically, she continued. "You girls should go home. I will call you when Hanna can have visitors."

"Just let Hanna know we were here." Aria said.

"I will. When she wakes up." she replied.

And she headed back down the hall to wait with her daughter. Man they wished they had family privileges so they could see Hanna too, but they were forbidden.

"Toby isn't A." Emily stated, although they all had come off of that theory already.

"Well, Hanna knows who is. That's why A tried to kill her." Spencer reminded her.

"Do you think they're just trying to scare us?" Emily asked.

"It worked." Aria muttered.

"This was never about scaring us. That was just a bonus. This started with murder; we were crazy to think that it wouldn't end up like this." Spencer said exasperatedly.

"So should we tell the cops?" the swimmer asked next.

"Tell them what?"

Emily was looking more upset by the minute. "Everything."

"We don't know everything!" Spencer argued.

"So what do we do?" Aria asked, looking to Spencer with big, round eyes.

"Well we talk to Hanna before we do anything." the leader of the group told them.

"Is Hanna safe here?" Emily wondered aloud.

Spencer hadn't thought of that. "Yeah. I mean, nothing will happen to her while her mom is with her." she said, although she wasn't sure if they even believed her.

The girls exited the hospital, unable to stop their eyes from shifting to every corner and shadow in search of a hooded figure.

* * *

Dropping Aria off at home and indulging in an extra-long hug, Spencer headed to her own home and pulled into the driveway. Her body was feeling heavier than usual as she dragged her feet inside the house.

To her surprise, Melissa was in the kitchen and looked concerned upon seeing her.

"Hey, Mom said you called. Are you all right?" Melissa said worriedly, facing her now.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay." Spencer fibbed. She was, really, but it had been one hell of a long night. She was scared for what might happen to Hanna now that she knew the truth, and them, now that they knew exactly what A was capable of, but there was really nothing she could do about it. She just had to sit and wait like a sitting duck.

"What happened?" Melissa asked.

The image of her friend flipping over the car, the panic they felt when they couldn't feel her breathe, the fact that they nearly lost her finally caught up and Spencer felt her tears clogging her throat before she could stop them.

"A car hit Hanna." she began to sob, moving into Melissa's open arms and wrapping her own around her sister's tiny waist tightly.

Melissa rubbed her back, shushing her soothingly. "A car? Who was driving?"

"We don't know." she replied honestly, pulling back. Clearly it was A, but they still didn't know who that was. That secret lied with the blonde girl in the hospital.

"They didn't stop?"

"No they just knocked her down and drove away." Spencer said irritably, her fury more than justified.

"Oh god."

Another deeper voice suddenly joined in the conversation. "Is she okay?"

Spencer looked over in surprise to see Ian standing in the back doorway, his shirt all the way unbuttoned and exposing his torso. He and Melissa's coffee date must have gone well… _really_ well…

Spencer wasn't feeling as excited as she should considering she set them up. When she had done that, she hadn't known of the tree marking Ian and Alison as a possible couple, and if it really was true than Ian could very well be involved in Alison's murder or this A business.

"She's just… shaken up." Melissa explained to him.

"No, I mean Hanna."

Spencer wiped her face. "Yeah. Yeah, her mom said she was going to be all right."

"Good." Ian said firmly. "Heads up, Spence, I'm cancelling Monday's practice."

Melissa seemed to catch the awkward tension in the room. "I'll be out in a minute, Ian."

He nodded and disappeared in direction of the barn.

Spencer looked at Melissa. "He stayed the night?"

Her expression indicated that she wasn't a fan of the judgmental tone. "It's not like we're strangers. We went out for two years and we had a lot to talk about." she defended. "Go upstairs. Get some sleep, okay?"

Spencer nodded. She couldn't worry about Ian and Melissa right now. "Okay."

Melissa left out of the door and Spencer headed upstairs to collapse on her bed.

She didn't even get a chance to change out of her clothes before she was asleep.

* * *

After a fitful night of sleep with more nightmares of re-watching Hanna get hit by a car, or worse, and seeing Toby taken away in handcuffs and repeating the history that followed that night, Spencer was more than grateful for the distraction of Ashley Marin calling after the agonizing school day to let her know Hanna was ready for a visit from she and the other girls. It had been almost 24 hours since they had seen Hanna and despite the fact that her stomach was rumbling, she ignored that she needed dinner and rushed out of the door.

Spencer had never been so excited to go to a hospital in her life.

Aria sat on the edge of the bed closest to Hanna, Ashley Marin next to her, and Spencer and Emily took the chairs on the opposite side.

"Does it hurt?" Emily asked, referring to her cast leg.

"Yeah. Kind of." Hanna admitted.

"Do you remember what happened?" Spencer asked slowly, hoping she'd catch on to what she meant.

Hanna understood. "Uh, yeah. I remember."

So A's identity wasn't lost!

Hanna looked to her mom. "Um, Mom, you've been here the whole time. Do you want to take a break?"

Ashley looked a little relieved at the suggestion, clutching her purse tighter to her arm. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"I'll be back in a couple of hours." she said, quietly exiting out of the door.

Aria moved off the bed to close the door behind her. She knew they all wanted privacy for this.

Hanna inhaled deeply. "Noel Kahn is A."

* * *

Okay, not what they were expecting by any means.

Emily was the first to gasp. "What?!"

"Are you serious?" Spencer exclaimed. Noel?!

"Yeah I saw him in the woods and he left an A message." Hanna explained.

"You saw him leave a message?"

For some reason, she glanced at Aria before answering. "He wrote something on the back of a car window.

"What car? What did he write?" Spencer inquired.

"I see you." Aria breathed in disbelief, looking terrified.

Spencer sent her a weird look, confused on how she of all people knew. "How do you know?"

"I was in the car." she said quietly.

"Who's car was it?" Emily asked.

"Ezra Fitz." Aria admitted.

Wait a second. "_Mr._ Fitz?" Spencer gasped.

She nodded.

"Aria…" Emily began slowly.

Spencer looked to the blonde since the small brunette wasn't answering. "Hanna?"

Hanna grimaced and confirmed the truth. "It was Mr. Fitz."

Emily got off the bed. "You… and Mr. Fitz?"

"You… met him there…?" Spencer continued to probe, wanting the full story. Because it couldn't be what she was thinking because if it was…

"The call you got at the party… that was from him?" Emily pieced together.

"I couldn't tell. I couldn't tell anyone. I promised Ezra." Aria exclaimed, knowing they'd be upset with her for lying to them all of this time.

"Ezra? Whoa, hold it. This is something that's been going on? You and a teacher?" Spencer was beyond shocked. This was insane! Did Aria not realize how much trouble she could get in? _He_ could get in? How long had this been going on? How bad was the damage? And if Noel knew…

"Well I didn't just get into his car last night. Who do you think I am?" the little one said sadly.

"How long have you been seeing him?" Emily asked.

"Since right before school started."

That was enough for Spencer. "Oh my god, since Labour Day!?" How did Aria keep it from them for months?

Hanna wanted some answers too. "Okay, so you don't have a boyfriend in Iceland."

"No, I did! But it's not… like that."

"So you were seeing a teacher when I fixed you up with Noel?"

Aria nodded.

Hanna seemed to realize the bigger faux-pas. "Oh my god, I fixed you up with Noel."

"And why did you get in his car last night?" Spencer asked.

"Well, he uh called me and…"

She couldn't help herself; she sent her a disapproving look. Aria seriously left the party to go hook up with their English teacher? She never would have thought Aria would be like that over any guy.

"Don't look at me like that." Aria pouted at her.

"Well my head hurts as much as my leg now." Hanna said, breaking up the tension.

Spencer decided to get back to business. "What _exactly_ did you see?" Forget about Aria and her love affair with their twenty-something teacher, they still had A to deal with.

"Well I saw Aria go into a parked car. And then I saw someone in a black hoodie write something on the back of a car window. And when he turned around, it was Noel."

"No, it can't be Noel." Aria said, shaking her head.

"Aria, I saw what I saw." Hanna argued.

"And A tried to kill her for it." Spencer reminded her.

"Okay, but I mean none of us saw who was driving the car."

It was a valid point.

A knock on the door interrupted the argument and Aria headed over to see who it was.

"If that's someone with painkillers, just let them in." Hanna told her.

They heard a surprised intake of breath.

"Noel." they heard Aria say and then she closed the door behind her, stepping out into the hall.

"Noel's here? Why would he dare when he knows you saw him?" Emily asked Hanna, who shrugged.

But they all knew that Noel couldn't do something with all of these professionals around either so they were safe.

"Be grateful it wasn't our friendly neighbourhood English teacher or Aria wouldn't be back for a while." Spencer said bitterly.

Hanna sent her a look. "Can you relax? I know you're mad that Aria never told you, but she lied to _all _of us. And apparently for a good reason since we're all jumping down her throat about it. I'd want to avoid it too."

Spencer looked down in shame. "Yeah, you're right."

Hanna grinned. "Of course I am. After all, I figured out who A was, didn't I?"

"We still don't know if that's the full truth, Han." Emily reminded her.

Aria came back into the room with a basket of goodies, a fluffy teddy bear on top the most visible. "He lied to me. About being there. He said he was with Sean."

"Are you really surprised, Aria? He knocked me down with a car. I'm pretty sure the guy has issues." Hanna told her pointedly.

Emily's phone beeped. "Shoot. I've got to go. I promised my mom I'd help her with something at home." She went over and hugged Hanna goodbye, being gentle of her injuries.

"Thanks for coming." Hanna told her sincerely.

"You know, I should head out too. I've got to drive Mike to lacrosse soon and I still need to stop at the art supplies store." Aria said disappointedly, following Emily's lead and hugging Hanna. She cast a wave at Spencer before exiting after the dark-skinned brunette.

Spencer figured she should go too, Hanna probably wanted some time alone or to rest, but she didn't want to. She wasn't ready to go home and face all of the crap she had run from that morning. Ian was probably still there, and Toby was in jail.

"Spence?"

Spencer realized Hanna must have been saying something to her.

"Sorry, Han. I'm a little out of it today."

"Not enough coffee?" the blonde teased.

Spencer smiled. "Not this time."

Hanna looked concerned and seemed to notice how fragile Spencer was looking. She clearly hadn't gotten any sleep and had about a hundred different things weighing on her shoulders.

"Come here, Spence. Sit."

Spencer obeyed and sat next to her friend's bad leg, accepting the hand Hanna laced with hers.

"Are you okay? I don't think Aria and Fitz is what's really bugging you."

Spencer didn't know how to start. She didn't want to pull all the attention onto her when Hanna had just been through this huge thing. She still hadn't told the other girls about seeing Toby last night, or about Ian and Melissa. It just didn't seem right when everything else was going on.

"Something happened last night." Spencer admitted.

Hanna sent her a look and gestured to her body. "No kidding."

"No, I mean something else. Something the other girls don't know yet."

Hanna was naturally always keen for gossip and leaned forwards. She had no idea why Spencer was looking so guilty. "Did you and Alex meet up in the woods too and get bus-"

"No! No, I haven't seen Alex for over a week. He sends his best though."

She smiled a little. "Okay. Spit it out. What happened?"

Spencer drew designs onto the cotton sheets to avoid Hanna's eyes.

"I went to see Toby at the church where he was hiding out." she confessed.

Hanna's eyes went round. "You _what_?!"

"I… needed to see him. We needed answers and I didn't think we'd ever get the truth about that night if Toby left town."

But Hanna was too smart for that.

"That's the _only _reason you went?"

"No." Spencer mumbled.

"Spence, do you still have feelings for him or not?"

Spencer didn't know how to answer that question. On one hand, she knew she had feelings for Alex. He was a nice guy who was very sweet and fun to spend time with. She always enjoyed her time with Alex. But she also knew that a part of her heart had been clinging to Toby since they had been together and holding onto hope that one day they'd work things out. She couldn't ignore that. It was only reignited last night when she saw him.

"Yes." she whispered, too ashamed to look into her friend's eyes.

"Why is that such a bad thing?" Hanna demanded, seeing her guilt.

"Because I'm with Alex, remember?"

Hanna rolled her eyes. "You're not bound to him for life. Things between you and Toby have been really confusing since they ended, but I remember you calling me after you guys first hung out. You've never called to gush about a kiss with Alex to me like that and I bet you haven't to the other girls either." she said stoutly. "Face it, Spence. You don't get that way about just anyone. I think you and Toby need to really talk."

Spencer felt her tears spill over. "We can't. He's in jail now. They picked him up last night."

Hanna must not have heard the news because she looked shocked.

"He told me to run. We heard the sirens coming and I wanted to stay and defend him, but he begged me to go. He didn't want me to get in trouble for knowing of his whereabouts and not turning him in or for us to be associated together. After all, no one but us knows about us dating or the truth about The Jenna Thing. Very few people would be able to connect us, but if they found me with him I would've been dragged to the precinct too and all hell would've broken loose."

Hanna absorbed this. "So he was willing to get caught if it meant ensuring your innocence?"

Spencer nodded.

"It's sort of romantic, in a way."

Spencer laughed darkly. "Yeah, it sure doesn't feel that way."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Nothing about me and Toby had ever been normal."

"I know, but I'm sorry for more than that. You guys deserve to have a second chance. If his innocence gets proved and he gets released, are you going to try again?"

Spencer sighed. "I don't know. I'm not sure if he even wants to. We haven't talked about us at all, just about Alison mostly. He's made it clear in the past that he doesn't want to, but after all that was revealed, I'm starting to think there are more lies mixed in. And most of them involve me."

"Well I saw the way he looked at you at homecoming. No way was he not jealous to see you on Alex's arm."

"Yeah, there's another thing too… he told me the real reason he took the fall for The Jenna Thing." she admitted.

Hanna remembered the previous reason, of it being to get away from Spencer, and knew that this new reason would make a lot more sense. "Okay, spill."

"He said he did it to protect me. Alison was going to shift the blame on me. She had told Jason about 'my' plan." she said. "When Jason was here for the memorial, we had a talk and that got brought up. He said exactly what you would expect from a sibling of Alison—it was clear he would go along with the story she fed him if ever asked."

Hanna's blue eyes were as round as saucers now. "So Toby went to reform school for a year, after having done nothing, so that you wouldn't have to?"

Spencer wiped at her fallen tears, nodding.

Hanna clasped both her hands around Spencer's. "Spence, that boy is in love with you. You don't do something that huge for someone you don't love."

Spencer looked up, feeling hopeful. "There's one other thing too. He had said he told Alison something and she was supposed to tell me, but she never had. I never got an answer since the police came but do you think—"

"…that it could've been something like 'I love you'? Yeah I do." Hanna finished for her.

Spencer took this in. Was there really hope for her and Toby? After all of this time and everything that had happened?

She wasn't sure if it even mattered since Toby was locked away, possibly for life.

She had to prove his innocence. She had to find out who really killed Alison because she knew it couldn't have been Toby. No way.

* * *

After leaving Hanna at the hospital, with the promise to come back later with the others, Spencer met up with the other two once they were finished what they had been doing to further discuss the new A theory and what else happened the night before.

"Are you sure about what you saw on that tree?" Aria asked.

"We both saw it, Aria." Emily reminded her.

"I know, but do you think Ali just put it up there to see what it might look like?"

Alison engrave a tree with her and Ian's names inside a heart? No way.

"No. Ali may have done some psycho things but she would never do anything tacky." Spencer said. "Anyway, Ian was with Melissa last night so he couldn't be A. Which brings us brings us back to Noel. He had means. He had opportunity. Those pictures of Emily and Maya were stolen at Noel's party, right?"

"Yeah, I know." Aria inputted.

"And Hanna saw him write that message on the back of Mr. Fitz's car." Spencer continued.

"Slow down. You flipped over to Noel awful fast. Just a few days ago you were so sure that it was Toby, what happened to that theory?" Aria said irritably.

Spencer wasn't sure if she should tell them about Toby yet or not. She had already opened that can of worms with Hanna and it was only making the fact that she had no way of talking to Toby that much harder. Was he okay? He had been in reform school before, but real jail was different.

She decided to go around the question. "A or not, you still need to know what Noel saw. And what he plans on doing about it."

The truth of the matter was that Aria had been semi-dating Noel lately and there was no way he wouldn't be bitter about her being with a teacher on the side. It was made even clearer by his sinister message.

Could Noel really be A?

* * *

Emily was called away yet again so Spencer decided that she and Aria would go reinvestigate the tree and look for any other clues around that area.

She really wanted to mend earlier, but she also still had endless questions about her best friend's secret romance.

As they walked through the woods leading up to Wright's Playground, Aria still seemed a little tense, but it may have been from the fact that the last time they were up there their best friend was run down with a car.

"A bar? You met him in a bar?"

"It's not a bar… it's a pub."

"And _he_ hit on _you_?" she clarified. It's not that she didn't know that Aria was cute, it's that a twenty-something guy was oblivious that she was sixteen.

Aria smiled a little in memory. "Yeah, we were talking about writing."

"Yeah, '_read any good books lately?_'." Spencer imitated, rolling her eyes. How could writing turn into flirting when you had just met a person and had no idea what their interests were?!

But Spencer realized she had crossed the line when Aria cut in. "Hey, seriously."

She retreated. "Boy…. I tell you—part of me thinks this is really self-destructive behaviour, but most of me thinks it's really hot." she admitted. Forbidden romance? She was a sucker for those. And a teacher-student relationship was all the more scandalous. Plus Spencer could see why Aria found Fitz attractive; after all, ninety-five percent of the girls in their grade were drooling over him daily.

"Spence, don't tease, okay? It's not funny. It's the opposite of funny." Aria said, looking down and Spencer realized how hard it really must be. Aria obviously really liked this guy and she wasn't being the best kind of friend by making jokes about it. Sarcasm and humour was usually how she lightened tense moods, but sometimes it came out rather insensitive.

"I'm sorry. It's just… I don't know how I'm supposed to react to all of this." she admitted, not solely referring to her best friend's secret boyfriend.

"Yeah, neither do I. Show me the stupid tree, okay?" Aria said, obviously ready to focus on something else.

"Yeah, it's right over here." Spencer told her, leading the way.

She stopped short when, where the tree was before, a stump lay in its place.

"You are not gonna tell me—" Aria began disbelievingly.

Spencer looked around, hoping it would just suddenly pop up. But she had been counting her steps. "No this was it. It was right here."

"Wait, are you sure you have the right spot?" Aria asked with false hope.

"I'm sure. It's gone." Spencer said, holding her forehead in stress.

Great. Just great. Looks like proving Toby's innocence was going to be harder than she thought.

* * *

They made the drive to Spencer's place to grab some food, buzzing with theories revolving around Ian being the potential killer. After all, it had been his name on that tree with Ali's and now that tree had been sawed down. Who else would want to break the link between the pair but the man himself?

Noel may be A, but what if Ian was the killer? Maybe A and Ali's killer were two separate people?

"We should call Em and Hanna." Aria told her as she hopped up onto one of the bar stools at the kitchen island.

"We'll talk to them at the hospital." Spencer reminded her as she opened the fridge to find them something to drink.

"A _tree_, Spence. An entire tree." Aria exclaimed, unable to believe it.

Spencer was surprised to find champagne bottles chilling inside the refrigerator. She pulled them out to observe them, showing them to Aria.

Aria raised her eyebrows. "I would've been fine with just cranberry juice…"

"Oh, you found my stash. Should be cold enough, right?" Ian's voice came as he crossed the room from the back door, smiling like he was running for office and taking the bottles from Spencer. "Well you have great timing. Grab some glasses; Melissa's out in the barn."

He was rather dressed up. And now he was drinking champagne. Something felt wrong.

"I'd like to know what I'm celebrating before I drink to it." Spencer said, crossing her arms.

"You don't have to be celebrating to drink champagne. That's very old-fashioned thinking." he teased.

But Spencer wasn't letting it go that easily.

"You cancelled practice today."

"Yes I did."

"To be with Melissa?"

"Yes." he said, although at least he looked a tad guilty this time.

Since he didn't seem to get where she was going with this, she asked the most pointed question. "Why?"

"Uh, you know, why don't you come out and talk to your sister?" he suggested and then she _knew_ she wasn't going to like this one.

"No, I think I'd like to hear this from you." she said.

But Melissa suddenly entered the house too.

Donned in a long, white gown.

Looking very much like a bride.

"We're married." Melissa gushed, confirming Spencer's fears.

She couldn't mask her surprise. "You're what?"

"We eloped." she explained, as if that was the answer Spencer was seeking.

"Yeah, it's incredible. It's like last year never happened." Ian boasted, squeezing around his wife's waist.

"Congratulations." Aria whispered.

Both Melissa and Ian beamed gratefully at her.

"D-do Mom and Dad know?" Spencer asked.

Melissa grimaced. "Not yet…"

"Yeah, we expect they'll be a little, um, surprised but…" Ian was saying, but Spencer's nervous laughter cut him off.

She couldn't help it. "Surprised? Ha."

Surprised was a damn understatement.

"This is what I want. They'll understand. You'll help me with them. I know I can count on you." Melissa said to Spencer seriously, and Spencer remembered that they were trying to be better siblings lately. Of course something like this would happen after they made that pact. She did not fancy going up against her parents about this, especially when she was not supporting this union herself.

"All right, uh, bring some glasses. We'll have a toast." Ian said happily, leading Melissa back to the barn.

Once out of earshot, Aria turned to Spencer in disbelief. "Spence, what just happened?"

Spencer collapsed onto a stool. She had no idea. Did her sister just become married to the potential murderer of her best friend? Was Spencer going to have to spend Christmas' and holidays and birthdays with the man who caused the end of her friend's young life?

* * *

At the hospital later, the other two were just as surprised to hear about Ian and Melissa, especially after they heard that the tree with his name on it had disappeared.

"So the whole tree?" Hanna asked.

"Yeah, lock, stock, and bird's nest." Spencer replied, still unable to believe it.

"Why? Why show something like that and then just take it away?" Hanna asked.

"Like A had a split personality." Emily agreed.

"That's great. Homicidal and nuts." Hanna said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.

"We've been thinking… maybe we're dealing with more than one person." Spencer said slowly.

Hanna stared at her. "A and Ali's killer are two separate people? You're freaking out the invalid."

"No, think about it."

"No, _you_ think about it! Aren't we in enough trouble? I know I am; just look at me." she exclaimed, gesturing to herself in the hospital bed with the casted leg.

Aria's eyes suddenly went wide as she ran them over the signatures on the plaster. "Han, who wrote this?"

Hanna didn't even bother looking. "I don't know. People have been in and out all day and so have I." They had changed her pain meds around and it was pretty heavy duty stuff so she was usually falling asleep or feeling loopy.

Emily looked now too, hoping to identify, but her response wasn't helpful in the slightest. "Oh, no."

Spencer leaned forward.

Hanna leaned forward too, panicked now. "What? What? What's on there?"

"_Sorry about losing my temper. My bad. Love, A_." Aria read out in horror.

"Who put that on my leg?" Hanna demanded, looking out into the hallway as if the perpetrator could be standing out there waiting for her to discover their message.

"Who wrote that?" Spencer asked, determined to jog her memory. It was written in black marker, unlike some of the other coloured options. They could narrow this down if Hanna could just remember who wrote in black!

"Did somebody come in here while you were asleep?" Emily suggested.

"I don't know, just get it off. Wipe it off. Get it off of me!" Hanna shouted, and the three of them quickly tried to calm her down before the nursing staff came in and shooed them all away. They did not want Hanna left alone now, especially if A had been in here already.


	21. Chapter 21

_Thank you for all the feedback thus far! You guys are incredible. Last chapter was my least reviewed to date, which is disheartening, but I understand it wasn't a very interesting chapter. I really, really would appreciate any kind of feedback you have as long as it is respectful.  
_

_This is where things start getting mixed up. I introduce episode 1x09 in this episode, even though it's morphed in with 1x12. Just so you understand. So, for the sake of the story, Hanna has to write the SATs with her cast on :p I had to chop it in two because of how lengthy I made it. For those who follow me on twitter, that big moment you've been anticipating happens NEXT chapter ;)_

**I do not own Pretty Little Liars.**

* * *

Hanna was finally released from the hospital three weeks later.

Spencer and the other girls were the ones to get her home since her mom was working late. They knew that private hospital rooms were pretty expensive so they all understood and stepped up to help out their best friend, eager to get her home and back into her regular life.

Although Hanna complained about sitting in the backseat of Spencer's SUV with her leg propped up, the other three knew she was very grateful to be heading home finally.

They unfolded her wheelchair and helped her into once they arrived at the Marin manor.

Hanna wheeled herself inside with a little assistance as Emily, Spencer and Aria carried in some of Hanna's things from the hospital.

Seeing Hanna picking at the sticker on her cast, Aria was confused. "Why are you taking that off?"

"I'm not. I'm trying to keep it on. Believe me, I don't want to see the autograph under it."

Spencer placed the box in her hands on the kitchen table. "Well we can get you another sticker."

"Yeah, this time maybe you should try something mellower… like '_Save the Planet_'." Aria suggested, sending Spencer a look. She had, after all, been the one who had the idea in the first place and picked it out at the hospital gift shop. The sticker read '_Humpty Dumpty didn't fall, he was pushed!_'.

"There were not a lot of choices. It was either Humpty Dumpty or '_Jesus is coming, look busy_'." she replied, remembering the, in her opinion, easy decision.

Hanna was too busy wincing at the words underneath to pay any attention to their argument. "Oh god, it's still there."

Spencer crouched down beside her, placing her hand over the sticker to hold it down. "Hanna, don't. Don't look at that. Just look around you. Because you're safe. You're home. And you're alive." she told her seriously. She knew Hanna was scared and frankly she knew she had every right to, but she didn't want her to live in fear. They were here for her through everything and they would stand strong against A as a group of four.

"I thought I was safe in my hospital bed too." Hanna muttered. She looked to Aria, suddenly going on a tangent. "What's going on with Noel Kahn? Is he A? Have you talked to him?"

"No, I avoid him. I keep telling him I'm busy… Busy freaking out every time I look at him." Aria said, crossing her arms in an instinctive protective stance.

"Yeah, try being run over by him." Hanna retorted.

Emily seemed to think it was a good time to change the subject. She picked up the stuffed bear from the box she had brought inside. "Who got you this panda? Sean?"

"Lucas." Hanna corrected.

"Aw, it's sweet."

Hanna chose not to comment. "Anyone else starving or is it just me?"

Spencer remembered what Ashley Marin had said on the phone earlier that morning when they discussed Hanna's return home. "Your mom said she left a special dinner for you in the fridge."

Hanna scrunched up her nose. "Pass. I want a pop tart." They all looked at her funny. "What? I've been on hospital food for three weeks. I want to eat something that doesn't look like it's already been chewed."

"Okay, well why don't you eat while we go get the rest of your stuff." Aria suggested.

The other two followed her back out to the car.

"Do you think she's going to be okay?" Emily asked, looking to Spencer since she tended to be the most logical.

Spencer nodded. "It's going to take time. But Hanna's strong. And she knows we're all in this together and we can get through anything." she said surely, convincing them as much as herself.

"I wonder if Hanna wants us to set her up downstairs on the couch? I can't imagine how hard it'll be to get her up those stairs… but I know she's been missing her bed." Aria said, biting her lip. She walked further into the house. "Hanna? Hey, so if you're going to stay down here tonight—"

Hanna was clutching a lasagna box in her lap and there were spilled boxes everywhere. She looked up. "Yeah! Yeah, down here is good." she said quickly, sounding guilty.

Spencer was surprised at the state of the kitchen. "What happened?"

"Nothing! Just uh knocked a few boxes down." she explained, sounding almost nervous.

"Well—" Spencer began, bending down to pick some up, but Hanna cut her off.

"No, no, no, you don't have to clean. Uh you can go. Seriously, my mom is going to be here soon."

Okay, now she was really acting weird.

"Wait, so now you want us to leave?" Aria asked, clearly as confused as the other two.

Spencer had a feeling Hanna had been spooked by something and now was trying to act like things weren't bothering her at all. But she had every reason to be freaked out. "You don't have to put on a brave face for us. If being alone is freaking you out, we can absolutely stay—"

"No, no, I'm just… fuzzy and I think it's this pain medication. Yeah, I need a nap."

"Okay, can we help you to the couch?" Emily asked.

"No, you've done enough. Seriously guys, go." Hanna said, sounding a little more normal now. "We're still on for studying for the SATs tomorrow night, right?"

"Yeah, my house." Spencer agreed, looking to the others for confirmation and they nodded.

"Okay… call me?" Emily suggested to Hanna, Aria and Spencer joining in.

"Yeah."

"Yeah, me too, any time."

Emily and Aria headed towards the front door. Spencer was still eying the lasagna box in Hanna's lap. "You know you have to boil that first, right?"

She honestly wouldn't be surprised if Hanna had forgotten that step. She was, after all, the girl who couldn't believe you had to add eggs and milk to a pancake mix. _'Isn't it supposed to be ready to go? That's why you buy it premade!'_

"Yeah." she said, her face breaking into a smile, possibly remembering the same incident where she and Spencer had cracked up over it so long they had collapsed on the floor in giggles.

It was nice to see a genuine smile on her friend's face. Spencer smiled a little, leaning down to maternally kiss the top of the blonde's head before following the other two out of the door.

* * *

After dropping off Aria and Emily, Spencer sat in front of Emily's house in her car and looked towards the Cavanaugh residence. She wished she could see Toby sitting on his porch, working away at his motorcycle, but she knew where he really was sitting—inside a jail cell. If only she had believed in him sooner, none of this would have happened. They may have even been able to go to homecoming together.

_You have Alex. Don't forget about sweet, adorable, charming Alex. Things have been so good between you two lately. Don't let daydreams of the past get in the way of that. Toby probably doesn't even want you that way anymore, especially after everything that's happened_. the mean voice in her head told her.

She knew it had a point. And honestly, things between she and Alex had been good lately… _really _good. He had been so supportive through the whole Hanna-getting-hit-by-a-car thing and most guys would have ran the other way after that. Lately, their goodbyes were taking longer and their hellos had transformed from single kisses to exchanging plenty. She really couldn't help herself from smiling around him and that meant something to her. It really was time she let Toby go and just focus on helping him out rather than winning him back. Her old feelings shouldn't run her life.

Still, she wanted to talk to him, if not just about how he was holding up and if there was anything she could do to help, so she called the number she saved on her phone again.

"Rosewood Juvenile Detention Center." a gruff voice greeted on the other end of the phone.

Spencer pulled out her best business tone, channeling her mother. "Hi, I need to speak with Toby Cavanaugh."

"On what grounds?"

Spencer hadn't thought of a clever answer. Last time she pretended to be his DA, but it turned out he was currently in a meeting with his _male _DA at the time so that quickly backfired. She knew Jenna must be visiting so they'd know it wasn't her on the phone. Who else could she pretend to be?

"I'm his… cousin." she invented.

"I don't have any cousins on my list. Toby Cavanaugh is not to speak to anyone outside of his immediate family or his legal team. Goodbye."

"Wait! Wait!" she shouted, and, when she didn't hear the dial tone, she continued. "I'm not really his cousin. I'm his ex-girlfriend. And I'm pregnant. And he's the father. I need to speak to him. This is a time-sensitive issue, please!"

The man on the other end of the line hesitated. "Look honey, I'm sorry this guy got you into trouble. But he's bad news. You're better off without him. And so is the kid. Good luck."

And this time she heard him hang-up.

Spencer sighed, holding her head. What was she supposed to do to help Toby if she didn't even know how to help him?

She drove home to bury her head in books. The SATs were two days away. She needed to let things go until at least after that.

* * *

The girls met up the night before the big exam to have one final cram session. Hanna had made it over, despite her leg, and it was Emily that never ended up making it. They hadn't heard from her, but they weren't too worried. They knew she had swim practice.

It was storming out though, which made them a little uneasy, but they knew how strict her mom could be. She probably had forbidden her from leaving the house once she made it home from practice. Often times, her mom had taken away her phone for some weird parenting reason or another, so they reasoned out her not texting them too.

Now that it was the day of the test, Spencer's mom had picked up Hanna and Aria and took the three girls to school since the weather was too bad for her to let Spencer drive herself. It was all over the radio—there was a huge storm coming.

"Do you think they'll cancel the SATs?!" Hanna gushed excitedly, clearly very hopeful.

"I don't know. They spend so much time planning for these things… they're a big deal. They won't push it ahead unless they absolutely have to." Spencer replied surely.

"Well I'm not leaving until I know for sure this test is happening. I don't want to be driving around in this weather more than I have to and I want to be sure that you girls will be safe." Veronica Hastings said stoutly as she got out of the car.

"Mom, it's fine. I'll text you when we find out."

"Spencer, I want to talk to whoever is in charge myself." she argued, pushing through the front doors while Spencer chased after her and Aria assisted Hanna.

Once inside, Spencer went to her locker, not giving up on shooing her mom away. "You don't have to come inside, Mom, if it were cancelled no one would be here."

But her mother had already ran off to talk to the nearest adult. She couldn't help but roll her eyes in annoyance. Would her parents ever listen to her?

"You didn't say Alex was taking the test here too." Aria noted, seeing the familiar curly-haired boy down the hall.

Spencer leaned desolately against her locker, groaning. "Why do you think I wanted my mom to drop us off and leave?"

Alex came over. "Hey."

Spencer's smile crossed her face before she could stop herself. He always looked so pleased to see her. "Hi." she replied coyly, gladly kissing him in greeting.

He held her closer and she completely forgot about her friends standing only a couple feet away and she kissed him back enthusiastically. They had developed a nice rhythm between them now and it was very easy to get distracted when his lips were on hers.

"Spence. Spence!" Aria whispered, swatting at her arm, and Spencer pulled back quickly when she noticed her mother coming back over.

"No one here can make a decision to make their life. It's absurd." Mrs. Hastings ranted irritably.

"Um, Mom, this is Alex Santiago. Alex, this is my mother. Alex that I went to homecoming with." she added when her mom's face remained inquisitive as she caught sight of him.

"Oh, of course. From the club." she stammered.

"Yeah." he said, looking awkward now.

"It just… it took me a moment to… put it together. So _you're_ Alex." her mom said, nodding like a bobble-head on a dirt road.

Spencer detected a nervous tone to her mother's voice, not something common in the Hastings family and especially not from her mom who was apparently like a rabid Rottweiler in a courtroom.

Alex was acting strange too. "Listen, I need to check in." he said to Spencer and turned to leave, saying a final farewell to her mom. "Um… Nice seeing you. Uh, _meeting_ you."

Okay. There was definitely something weird going on. They clearly knew each other in some uncomfortable way.

The lady Spencer's mom had chased down earlier approached them. "Test is on today. Rosewood students, you register in the library."

"Half the school isn't even here yet." Hanna complained.

"We saw a huge tree down on Saw Mill Road and they've already closed off York Street." Mrs. Hastings added.

"That wasn't because of a tree. York Street has been closed since last night." a familiar voice cut in. The test woman quickly exited the conversation.

What the hell was Detective Wilden doing here? He approached them.

"Why?"

He looked to the girls now. "Somebody decided to pay a visit to Alison DiLaurentis' memorial and destroy it. Shattered the tiles, broke the bench."

Aria's eyes went huge. "What?"

"When did this happen?" Spencer demanded.

"We had to cordon off the area given its an ongoing murder investigation." Wilden explained.

Veronica looked as though her feathers were ruffled. She adjusted her purse strap on her arm. "Well maybe you can spare them the details. They're about to take their SATs."

"Right. Good luck on the test, ladies." he told them; although, by his tone of voice, you'd swear he was trying to distract them on purpose.

Too fed up with the way this day was already going, Spencer didn't even say goodbye to her mom. "We should probably get to the library." she said to the other two and they followed her down the hall.

* * *

The three of them had found a table near the back of the library. Spencer was pleased that this is where they would be stationed since it meant it was easier to cram more studying in. But of course, the girls' thoughts were still a little wrapped up in what Wilden had said.

"I can't believe it was trashed. Just when you thought that A would give it a rest." Aria said desolately.

"It's like A had to kill Alison all over again." Spencer said, her eyes focused on her trigonometry problems.

"A? What do you mean, A? I thought we decided A and Ali's killer could be two different people?" Hanna said in confusion.

Spencer shrugged. "Well, I hear more from Alison now than when she was alive."

"Spencer, have you heard from Toby at all? Has Emily? A was happy that Toby was out of the picture and that has to mean something."

Spencer shook her head. "I've tried to call but he's not allowed to take my calls. Who do you think is responsible for that one?" she said irritably, figuring his step-sister had concocted that little plan and spun it to her parents that it would help Toby in the long run. In truth, Spencer may be able to help prove his innocence if she could just get a few more answers.

"Well have any of you heard from A? Do you think they're going to back off now that Ali's memorial was trashed? Maybe that's all they really wanted—to humiliate her memory? And if not, maybe they can help us narrow down who Ali's real killer is so we can save Toby—"

"Why are we suddenly trusting A? A made a fake bracelet to mess with us, ran Hanna over with a car, and was the one to frame Toby in the first place!"

The sudden spotting of a familiar dark-skinned beauty halted the conversation.

"Emily. Hey. Where've you been?" Hanna asked.

"And why weren't you at Spencer's last night?" Aria interjected.

"I know, I'm sorry. I didn't get out of practice until really late so I just went straight home and crashed." she said, almost a little uneasily, and Spencer had a feeling she was fibbing. "So what did I miss?"

"Well, we studied… _They_ studied and _I _annoyed them." she corrected with a smirk. "…And Alison's memorial got trashed."

"Yeah, I heard." Emily said grimly.

Aria spotted someone pass by the big window. "What is my mom doing here?"

She got up and exited the library, no doubt to go talk to her.

"Aria hasn't talked to her mom much since she moved out, has she?" Emily said, looking to the other two for confirmation.

Spencer shook her head desolately. "No. It's just been hard on their whole family, getting used to such a change. They don't even know if it's permanent so they're sort of in limbo, not really sure where their loyalties should be. Her dad is the one who stayed home, but he's also the one who cheated in the first place and sent their family spiraling…"

When Aria returned, the woman in charge addressed them all. "The tests will now begin at 10. If this interferes with any plans you made for this afternoon, I suggest you make some calls. If you didn't bring a phone, I am sure this tap-happy gentleman over here would be glad to lend you his."

Spencer noticed amusedly that she was referring to Lucas Gottesman, who Hanna had oddly been getting closer to these days. She wasn't sure how that started, but she remembered being surprised to see them conversing and exchanging a friendly hug at homecoming that time. She made a note to ask Hanna about it later.

She was distracted from the Hanna/Lucas phenomenon when she heard Wilden's voice again. She looked up to see him talking to the lady at the front.

Emily's phone buzzed next to her, but Spencer ignored it, focusing on what Wilden wanted.

"Who would I speak to about getting into the boy's locker room?" he asked quietly.

"I'd have to find a custodian. Do you want to follow me?"

He smiled in that way of his that always seemed to be a smirk. "No, that's all right, I'm going to wait here."

Aria leaned across the table so she could lower her voice. "God, he is freaking me out. Whose locker is he poking into now?"

"He's desperate. Ali's brother is breathing down his neck." Spencer reminded her, remembering how much that had rattled Wilden's cage a few weeks previous. She was sure, even though Jason was working for a short time here, that he wasn't a stranger to calling for updates.

"Yeah, ours too. What if Jason told the police Alison's version of what happened the night of the fire?" Aria asked fearfully.

"If Jason was gonna tell them, he would have a year ago. He knows that story is bogus."

"Then why would he bring it up?" Hanna asked.

"To try to drive a wedge between us. But he's not gonna do that." Spencer said, remembering Jenna trying to do a similar thing.

* * *

_ Jenna was typing on her tiny keyboard when she finally noticed Spencer's presence behind her. She probably picked up on her breathing. Spencer knew that the other senses augment when you lose one. "Hello?"_

"_It's Spencer."_

_Spencer could hear her sinister smile rather than see it. "Hello, Spencer."_

"_Can I talk to you?"_

"_Of course you can."_

"_It's about the dedication." Spencer said slowly._

"_Ali's memorial? You're in charge of that, aren't you?"_

_She always asked questions as if she already knew the answer. Spencer forgot how much her personality rivaled Alison's._

"_I was. Now that Jason's here he's taken over."_

"_Does Jason look the same? I got the impression he was different. He _sounds_ different."_

_She didn't miss the pointed auditory conclusion. Jenna was asking just to remind Spencer exactly what they had done to her. She now didn't have eyesight as a way of deducting change in people. _

"_Yeah, yeah, he is different. He's uh… polished." Spencer decided on, remembering the old Jason DiLaurentis. He used to abuse drugs, alcohol and red solo cups. Nowadays he looked like he was running for mayor and majored in hair gel._

"_Polished? You know, when I was talking to him, I got the strangest sensation like Ali was in the room with us." Jenna said, and Spencer knew she was taunting her. Enough of this._

_Spencer placed her hand on the table and leaned closer to the other girl. "What are you going to say at the dedication?"_

"_I was going to speak from my heart."_

_HA, what heart?_

"_Jenna, what do you want?" Spencer demanded._

"_What I want you can't give me. You and your friends are careless. Like I told Emily, you're careless and you break things and you think you're never going to have to pay for them…"_

"_We are paying for it, Jenna. We're paying for it every day." Spencer told her seriously. If Jenna thought that it didn't eat them up every single time they saw her blindly slapping her stick in the hallways, she was dead wrong._

"_How much? Who's counting?" Jenna asked slowly in her sinister manner._

_Spencer knew she was right. Feeling guilt over blinding someone versus being actually blind, it was clear who was suffering more. But it wasn't like that was their only burden to bear._

_Spencer was not letting Jenna ruin this one. Yes, what they had done was wrong, but it had happened and they couldn't take it back now. This memorial wasn't where Jenna should seek her revenge. It just… wasn't fair._

"_Look. You want some kind of satisfaction, I understand that. But what you can't do, what I won't let you do, is to turn this dedication into a club to beat down on us. Okay, we did love her. And what happened was terrible. She deserves this memorial and so do we and you don't have a right to turn it into something else."_

"_Alison was done with you. Did you know that?" Jenna asked with a sneer. "We talked about it in the hospital. She told me why. She said she was afraid of you. Is that why one of you did what you did?"_

_Spencer stepped back in surprise._

* * *

Wilden's voice brought her out of the memory.

"Sorry about the memorial. I know how hard you girls worked on it. Shocking though, right? Something like that could happen out in the open and nobody saw anything." he said pointedly.

Spencer was not giving him the satisfaction. They may have been guilty of some things, but this time, they really had no idea what really happened to the memorial. "Well everybody here was probably studying for the exam we're about to take so you might wanna look for eyewitnesses somewhere else." she replied with her usual Hastings sass.

"So you were all studying together last night?" Wilden asked.

It was Emily who answered. "Yes. We were all at Spencer's."

Hanna, Spencer and Aria exchanged looks.

"All of you?" he asked, seeming surprised by this deduction.

Aria jumped in. "Yes._ All_ of us."

"Okay." he said, and with that he walked away.

Emily's phone buzzed again. Apparently she had ignored the last message.

It wasn't like Emily to lie. In fact, she was the most honest one out of the group. So why was she suddenly making up a story about last night?

"Emily, what is going on?" Spencer asked.

Aria's voice was a little gentler. "Where were you last night?"

"I told you. I went home." Em said shortly.

"Then why didn't you tell him that?" Spencer asked slowly.

"What happened to all of us sticking together?" Emily snapped, and then stood up to leave the table.

"Where are you going?" Aria said in surprise.

"To the restroom. But if you don't believe me, we can all try and squeeze into one stall." she replied crankily, and stormed off.

The smallest one looked guilty and unsure. "Should one of us go talk to her?"

Hanna shook her head. "No. She'll talk when she's ready."

The three of them went back to their studying.

"Spence, is this right?" Aria asked, pushing her paper over to her.

Spencer read over her math. "You can simplify a little further, but yes." she replied.

Her phone buzzed and Spencer nearly rolled her eyes. She wasn't going to get any studying done like this.

She picked it up and read the message, her eyes going wide at the words.

_Define 'desertion'. Seems like you're about to lose Emily. Who's next? –A_

She quickly showed it to the other two and they looked around wildly, wondering what on earth A meant this time. What was Emily hiding?

* * *

After checking the bathroom to find Emily NOT there, Spencer figured she needed some time alone. She really hoped Emily would come to her and that they hadn't pushed her away. She hadn't meant to upset her, but she really had no idea what she was going through.

Spencer concentrated on sharpening her pencils a little too much, imagining sticking Wilden's big fat head in there. God she was getting tired of him poking his nose in their lives. He clearly had an idea that they were lying about all being together, but it would be Emily who would be punished the worst… depending on what it is that she did.

She suddenly spotted Alex entering the library and approached him. "Alex, hey."

He looked up from his textbook and smiled. "Oh, hey."

"Are you taking the test in here too?"

"If we ever take it. Only eight kids showed up from my school."

She knew his school was small on average, but it definitely wasn't that small.

Seeing that she finally was alone with him, she figured now was a good time to ask. "Um, listen, I don't know what happened between you and my mom at the club. I know she can be kind of a handful, I mean, I've seen her send back a napkin because it had, like, a loose thread—"

Alex forced the smallest of smiles, and cut her off. "I think I should look at my math stuff. I can't talk about this."

She backed off and looked to the carpet. "Okay."

And then he left, leaving her wondering why on earth everyone in her life was suddenly keeping secrets from her.


	22. Chapter 22

_I hope you guys enjoy a special moment I've been looking forward to sharing for months ;) This chapter has that scene I wrote out months and months ago, back at the beginning of writing BIAB, and is the reason why I changed things around so much so that certain elements of it would work. Let's just say Spoby from now on get a lot more involved ;)_

_Love you guys! Thanks for everything! For all those who have returned to school, I hope things are going well!  
_

**I do not own Pretty Little Liars.**

* * *

The storm worsened outside and they were moved from the library for safety reasons… and into the girls locker room; a great place to pack a bunch of kids with high nerves.

Spencer spotted Alex sitting on a bench, still working on math equations.

She sat next to him. "Hey, I don't think this test is going to happen today. You can take a break."

"Not all of us sailed through Trig." he replied, shorter than he normally would. She knew it probably wasn't just from his test stress.

"Alex, are we ever going to get past this?" she said quietly.

"Past what?" he asked exasperatedly.

"Whatever happened between you and my mom…"

"Spencer—"

She knew he had somehow been sworn to secrecy, or at least made a vow to himself to never speak of it again, but she couldn't handle the sudden tension between them. This was the last thing she had thought would happen when he finally met her parents. Having them say he wasn't good enough for her or that he was 'just a ball boy' was one thing. Having him have some secret, sensitive past with her mother was a complete other.

"Look, you don't have to talk about it—"

"It's not up to me to tell you. It's up to your mother." he said seriously, and then walked away from her.

Well. That certainly didn't reassure her any.

She really didn't like that Alex wasn't even trying to comfort her, or reassure her that they could get past it. She was naturally paranoid thanks to everything that had been happening the last couple months, and this certainly wasn't helping things.

What on earth could have happened that was so bad?!

Finally, Spencer saw Emily. But Wilden was leading her away before she could go talk to her. Oh no.

Spencer caught Hanna and Aria's eyes and followed quickly, not caring that they were supposed to stay where they were.

Emily was looking at the ground in shame, hugging one arm to her body in a protective stance and they knew Wilden was grilling her about whatever she had been trying to keep secret.

"What is going on?" Spencer demanded.

Wilden grew sarcastic unsurprisingly. "Oh, perfect. We can all be together for an update."

"No, we're supposed to be in the girls' locker room." Hanna reminded him.

"Yeah, well I'm guessing you girls are used to being in places you're not supposed to be. Did you tell your friends where you were last night? When you _weren't_ studying for the test?" he said to Emily, pulling out his phone. "See, because I got these really interesting photos. Go ahead and pass it around. There's plenty more where that came from, at the precinct. And I see you didn't get a chance to clean your shoes either, huh?"

To their surprise, they found themselves looking at Emily sitting on the ground by the trashed memorial, her feet covered in mud and bits of the memorial in her hands. She was clearly upset.

"That's not why I went there." Emily argued.

"Really? So you didn't go back there by Toby's orders? Or were you just there covering up for one of his other buddies?"

"I found it like that. It was already destroyed."

"Really. Then let me ask you a question." He pulled out the figurines that once were lined the fountain. There were five girls, one to represent each of their old group, and the girls looked at Emily in shock. Why would she take those? "What were these doing in your bag? Souvenirs? Something Toby asked you to save so he could keep it for his trophy collection?"

"Em, why do you have those?" Aria asked.

Emily didn't answer, tears falling down her face now.

Hanna grew defensive. "No, you put those in there, you creep. Emily would never do that! The memorial was her idea."

"Yeah, so I heard. Nice cover, huh? You want me to share this with them?" Emily swiped for the letter in his hand, but missed. "Or would you like to? Go ahead and tell them, Emily, about the angry letter you wrote to Alison. Which is dated, by the way, three days before she disappeared."

"You had no right to read that." Emily said seriously, clearly angry with him for violating her privacy.

Spencer had no idea what on earth could be in that. Emily had always worshipped Alison. Why would she be so furious with her that she'd write it out like that?

"Emily, what is in that letter?" she asked her directly.

Wilden took over when Emily didn't respond. "Tell her. Tell her how you wanted to punish Alison for rejecting you. Tell her how you felt relieved at the funeral. Yeah, she wasn't gonna be around to humiliate you anymore, was she?"

Wait, rejecting?

Emily turned to the girls now, her tears falling freely. "I went back to the memorial to say I was sorry. There were horrible things in that letter and I didn't mean them. But then suddenly she was gone and—" She stopped, trying to get a hold of herself. "I loved her as more than a friend. I just never had the chance to tell her in the right way."

Spencer didn't know what to say. She had had no idea that Emily felt that way for Alison, or for, well, girls. A few things started to make sense now. Alison must have known because the little jabs she had made at Emily before started to become clearer now.

Hanna was the only one who didn't look surprised—she just looked pissed off. "Give her the letter back. Give it back to her now or I swear to God I will rip your head off." It was a bit rich coming from a girl in a wheelchair, but nevertheless, Hanna knew how to hold her ground. She could be pretty menacing when she wanted to be.

"Sorry, I can't. We're not leaving this room until you tell me what you were doing carting around pieces of Alison's memorial!" Wilden shouted, obviously trying to rattle Emily into blurting out the truth.

"I took them because they were the only things that weren't broken." Emily retorted irritably.

"What's going on in here? Why aren't they in the locker room with the other kids?"

Spencer had never been more relieved to see her mother in her life.

"Who are you?" Wilden asked, his face showing his confusion.

"Her mother." Veronica said stoutly, gesturing to Spencer. "If this is the school's idea of keeping my child safe, I'm glad I came back. Honey… why is she crying?" she asked, turning to Spencer after seeing Emily's state.

Spencer immediately moved over to put her arms around Emily. "He accused her of killing Alison."

She rubbed her friend's upper back reassuringly, hoping to transmit more than just reassurance over them not believing she hurt Alison, but that they didn't care if she was gay or not. She was still Emily.

"What?"

Aria joined in the ring now. She was clearly furious now too at the way Wilden had exposed their friend to them before she was ready. "He went through her purse and now he's accusing her—"

Mrs. Hastings cut her off, and Spencer knew Wilden was about to get it. "Wait, hold it. Hold it. You're questioning minors without an adult present? What police department do you work for? What century are you in?" she asked him angrily.

"Ma'am, I would advise you—"

She didn't disappoint. "Oh, no. I would advise _you_ to _back off_. Because anything they've said to you is inadmissible in court. Period. Let's go. Emily, honey, grab your things."

The four girls left out of the library as Veronica continued to argue with Wilden. Spencer had forgotten how protective her mother could be. It was so rare she was on Spencer's side, but when she was, it certainly felt good.

When her mom returned to the locker room, they immediately asked how the rest of the conversation went. Mrs. Hastings explained how he had broken some pretty big rules and that she wasn't going to let it slide.

"So what's going to happen to him? Can they get him off the force?" Hanna asked hopefully.

"If he's smart, he'll leave before that happens." she said and then spotted one of the students snacking. "Oh, where did he get that protein bar?"

"Oh, I'll get you one." Aria said, heading over to the box.

But she stopped at seeing Emily sitting alone and sat to speak with her.

Spencer contemplated getting her mother the protein bar, since Aria was a little preoccupied now, but the lady in charge of the testing was addressing them all before she could.

"The storm warning has just been lifted, but the SATs will have to be rescheduled."

The whole locker room cheered. They were free! And no test today!

They all filed out of the locker room and headed to grab their stuff. Aria told Spencer that she and Hanna could get a ride with her mom, since her mom had shown up to proctor, and Emily would be driving herself. So Spencer went to her locker with just her mother after saying goodbye to them and couldn't help but try to spot a certain curly-haired boy in the hallways.

Her mother noticed. "You looking for somebody?"

"Yeah, Alex. But he might have already left." she replied disappointedly. She figured he wouldn't have waited around to say goodbye to her, especially with the way they left things.

"Didn't you bring an umbrella?" her mom asked, changing the subject, but Spencer hadn't even finished unloading her stuff.

"Yeah." she said, pulling it out pointedly. She was getting to it. But she knew she shouldn't be so upset with her mom, especially after what she had just done. "Mom, thank you for stepping in."

Her mom smiled. "It was pro bono. Let's go."

"Wait. I really can't sit in the car the whole ride home without asking what happened between you and Alex?" she said nervously. Since Alex had convinced her it was more her mother's duty to tell her, her nerves over what had happened had only increased tenfold.

Her mother let out an exasperated sigh. "What did he say?"

"Nothing. He won't talk about it."

Mrs. Hastings sighed and nodded towards an empty classroom, leading the way. Spencer followed and she closed the door behind them.

"Oh my god, this requires closing a door. Maybe I should just walk home."

If her mom didn't want others to hear this, or possibly for them to hear Spencer's reaction, then this was bad.

Her mom didn't reassure her any, just dove right into the story. "Remember that weekend when your father took you and Melissa to D.C.? I stayed behind?"

"Yeah."

"I said I had to work all weekend but that wasn't the truth. I spent most of Friday drunk. Sunday I was hungover. Saturday… I don't remember at all."

Dear GOD, what did that even mean? Her mom didn't drink much, just the odd glass of wine or champagne at events. Was she going to say she and Alex hooked up at some point?

Oh god, she was going to be sick.

"Okay, I think I actually changed my mind. I really don't want to know this."

But Veronica continued. "It started at the club Friday morning. It was empty. There wasn't a soul to talk to, so I ordered a sidecar. Then another. And another. By the time lunch rolled around, I had walked through a trellis and couldn't find my shoes. It was Alex's first week there. He kindly listened to me spill my guts and later poured me into a cab. With my shoes."

Wait, what? "Why were you spilling your guts to Alex?"

Her mother was super private, especially around other people. Strangers, of the teenage variety no less, were the last that she would give details of her life to by choice.

"I had a doctor's appointment before I went there. They removed a lump from my breast." she explained, her eyes wet now. "I was feeling a little overwhelmed and powerless. After that, I avoided the club for months. The next time I saw Alex I made him promise that he would never, ever bring it up."

Spencer couldn't help her tears from building too. Did this mean…

"Mom, are you sick?"

She smiled. "No."

"Well, why didn't you and Dad tell us?" she asked, feeling the anger come.

"What makes you think your dad knows? Spencer, our family doesn't handle imperfection very well."

Was she serious? Spencer's mouth fell open.

"Mom. Being sick is not an imperfection."

Her mother didn't answer that one.

"Just so you know, I gave up sidecars for spritzers. And by the way, Alex is a lovely kid. He's a keeper." she told her daughter with a smile.

Spencer smiled back a little.

"We should get going." Mrs. Hastings reminded her, opening the classroom door.

"Um, can I meet you in the car? There's something I need to do." Spencer said, spotting one of Alex's friends.

Her mom seemed to understand. "Of course. I'll pull up out front."

Spencer thanked her and headed over to the guy to ask if Alex was still around.

Apparently he hadn't left yet! Spencer rushed through the halls to find him, earnest to see him now that she knew what secret he had been protecting. He hadn't wanted to betray her mom's promise or upset her with her mom's possible condition. Her mom was right; he was a good guy.

There he was! Spencer rushed up to him.

"Hey." she greeted, and before he could turn around completely she had leapt up to kiss him eagerly on the mouth.

He held her close, kissing her in return, before pulling back in surprise. "What was that for?" he asked with a laugh, clearly having enjoyed himself but confused for the sudden change between them.

Spencer smiled a little. "I can't tell you. It's a secret."

His eyes told her he understood and they kissed again.

When she returned to the car, her mom smiled knowingly. Spencer unconsciously wiped her mouth.

But there was a part of her that couldn't help wondering… if her parents got to know the real Toby, would they think he was a lovely kid too? Maybe Spencer had been too quick to judge her own family. Maybe there had been hope for them after all.

* * *

On the way home, they stopped for coffee. It was just the Hastings way.

Spencer suddenly spotted Toby getting out of a dark car and heading into city hall.

"Why is he out of jail?" she asked, her voice a little strangled in surprise at seeing him. She had been so worried about him.

Mrs. Hastings grimaced, thinking Spencer was upset rather than relieved. "He's out on bail. He's probably meeting with his attorney. Honey, let's get home. Staring at him won't make him disappear. Come on, let's go."

Spencer couldn't help herself from watching him from her window until they disappeared around the corner.

* * *

After arriving home, Spencer knew she had to get out of the house. It took until she saw her parents greet each other lovingly for the news to really hit her. Her mom had a, albeit small, surgery performed and her father had no idea. She knew it was just to protect them, or to keep up the perfect image, but it really rattled Spencer. What else were they hiding? Was her mom even being truthful when she said she wasn't sick anymore? Was her whole life full of half-truths?

Spencer didn't know how long she had been walking, but her feet were beginning to get sore.

It was dark out now. She really shouldn't have been out in the storm, but it had died down and the sun had come out earlier. It was just damp out now, the aftermath of a wind and rain storm.

She just needed time to herself, and her parents and Melissa probably hadn't even noticed she had gone. With her luck of having the SATs rescheduled, she really should have been using the extra time to study more but her head wasn't in the right place.

Her mom's earlier confession was the only thing she could think about. She knew she and her parents didn't always get along, but they were her parents. She loved them. More than that, she still needed them. As much as she liked to be independent, she knew that, at the end of the day, she was still too young to lose either of them. She had been taking for granted that they were around and healthy…

"Spencer?" a familiar voice jolted her out of her thoughts and she turned to see Toby looking surprised on his porch.

He stood and stepped down a stair at the look on her face.

"Is everything okay?"

Spencer hadn't realized she was on his street, let alone in front of his place. Something bigger seemed to have drawn her there.

"I'm fine." she said, but to her surprise, her voice cracked and she touched her face to feel the tears soaking her skin.

Toby looked pained and like he wanted to come closer, but he was restricted by the device wrapped around his ankle.

"You sure about that?" he asked.

Spencer shrugged and slowly walked towards where he was standing. He gestured for her to sit next to him and she gingerly obeyed, looking nervous.

He didn't say anything. He knew she wasn't completely sure about him at the moment. The way they had left things had been… confusing to say the least. But he hoped to change that, eventually. For right now, he was more concerned with finding out what had her in tears.

Spencer didn't say a word. She wiped at her face embarrassedly, but was silent.

Toby longed to reach out to grab her hand, but knew that would probably be overstepping his place.

"Spencer…?"

She went a different route, nodding towards his ankle monitor.

"I guess you're not entirely free, huh?"

He shrugged. "It's better than being in there. Although, Jenna hasn't come home yet so that may change."

"Is she still…"

Spencer wasn't sure how to ask.

"No. I put a stop to that, for good."

She was relieved to hear that. She didn't miss the agonized look on his face any time his step-sister was brought up.

"I tried to talk to you while you were in there. Only immediate family or members of your legal team were entitled to speak with you. I guess my acting wasn't the best when I pretended to be other people to get through."

Toby had to crack a smile at the image of Spencer faking accents or titles in order to get through to talk to him. It meant a lot to him that he would put in all that effort just to talk to him, to make sure he was okay.

Spencer watched him carefully. "Was it bad in there?"

He didn't answer. He was trying to blur out his memories in there. He wasn't exactly feeling like going down memory lane into his dark past, so he changed the subject. "Enough about me. What's going on, Spence?"

She sighed.

"I… I got some news today. About my mom. And it's all in the past and everything's fine now… but I just can't shake it." she explained.

"What kind of news?" he asked curiously.

"I found out… that a few months ago, my mom had a lump removed from her breast." she admitted. "She never even told my dad. She lied and said she had to work while my dad took Melissa and I to Washington."

Toby didn't hold back this time. He rested his hand on her knee and squeezed comfortingly. "I'm sorry, Spencer."

She nodded as the tears restarted. "I know it's stupid to be upset about it. I mean it's over and she's not sick, but… how many other things are they keeping from me? If Alex hadn't been the one that helped my mother while she was drunk that entire weekend at the club, I _still_ wouldn't have any idea… For all I know, my dad has a worse heart condition than I know about. Or maybe my mom really is sick. I just… I always knew my family was dysfunctional, but _this_ screwed up? My mom's response was that _our family doesn't handle perfection well_. I mean, if _that's _not a reason to need a shrink I don't know _what_ is." she ranted.

Taking a deep breath, Spencer exhaled slowly as her hands unconsciously found Toby's warm ones. He rubbed circles on the back of her hands with his thumbs.

"I just… I can't imagine losing my parents, either one of them. I… I need my mom still." she confessed tearfully, the water breaking free and cascading down her face.

"I get it, Spence. You have every right to be upset." he promised.

Spencer suddenly remembered that Toby had actually lost his mother, to cancer no less, and covered her mouth in horror as she pulled back.

"I am so insensitive. I'm sorry, Toby. I shouldn't be spilling my guts to you about a potential thing when you've actually lived it-"

"Spencer, don't be ridiculous. I'm here for you no matter what it is. It just means I have a better perspective than others. I'm not offended."

Spencer looked up at him through her wet lashes, finally noticing that they had migrated much closer together.

"I still should've thought about it more… Plus you've got enough going on these days…"

Toby cupped her face in his hands and looked her straight in the eyes. "Spencer, you're way more important than anything else."

Spencer smiled and blushed, averting her gaze away from him momentarily in bashfulness. When she brought them back to his, she couldn't help but lose herself in those eyes of his. So blue. She half-expected to see waves crashing against his pupils; the ocean hues contained in his irises just seemed to be too great to tame.

She wasn't sure who leaned closer first, or how they ended up only centimeters apart, but her eyelids suddenly fell shut as his lips collided with hers.

Toby sighed a little when their mouths fused together. Her soft kisses seemed too good to be true; he expected her to pull back suddenly and swat him away, but her lips only increased their pace against his.

It had been so long since they last kissed, yet it felt like no time had passed.

His hands rose to cradle her head behind her neck, tugging her mouth more fully onto his, and Spencer's passion rivaled his as she suddenly threw herself into their kiss like the world was on fire around them and they were about to die.

Her fingers were strewn through his hair, her teeth nibbling on his bottom lip to elect a groan out of him. His body responded appropriately as his veins blazed with desire. How could he have survived this long without kissing her? He didn't remember the last time he had felt this alive.

Spencer was just as lost in him as she lost count of the kisses they had exchanged. God, she had missed this. He had only gotten better at it. Kissing Alex wasn't as-

Oh god, Alex!

Spencer pushed Toby away as he attempted to stretch to reach her lips again. She shook her head, panting hard.

"We can't. I can't. Alex is still… I-I have a boyfriend." she stammered out.

"Right. Sorry." he replied awkwardly, not really sure what to do.

Spencer stood up, breaking away from him completely.

"You don't have to go…" Toby began, but Spencer shook her head and kept walking.

She turned back to look at him, halfway down the path, swiping at the corners of her eyes to rid them of tears. "No… I need to. I'm sorry. I can't."

Toby wanted to chase after her, but the weight of the ankle monitor seemed heavier than ever as he watched her run down the street.

He couldn't see them from there, but he certainly could still feel her tears. They were mirroring his own as he descended back onto his porch alone.

* * *

_I should mention-I don't condone cheating of any kind._


	23. Chapter 23

_If you haven't guessed already, I'm a really big fan of Spemily's friendship. Plus I feature them a lot just because of the fact that Emily knows them both or at least better than the other girls do. But I've always liked the dynamic between Emily and Spencer, so I do tend to feature them more heavily. Sorry to anyone that bothers._

_I'm going to try my hardest to finish this story with the justice it deserves in a timely fashion. But things in my life are about to get crazy again so bare with me. I've also been losing motivation for this story since the feedback on it has crucially declined. Kind of disheartening and makes me feel like only a few people are reading. But I know people are busy and I don't want those that ARE reading to have to wait too long for updates so I'm going to do what I can! Try not to lose too much patience with me._

_As a result, I have been accepting Troigan prompts again. Most I will just be posting on my tumblr (hold your breath until you see light) (don't add the spaces) because they aren't anything special, just quick things I throw together when my muse is cooperating. I've already posted a few on there in the past couple days. I write a lot of things I don't post, and most I write in the middle of the night, so I don't feel they are FF worthy, but for those interested, you can check a few that I've decided others might want to read out on my page. You can click the Troigan tab at the top to filter my posts. If you are going to send me a prompt, I'll let you know what I'm already working on: TCAs, filming of 316, filming of 317, Ravenswood keeks/filming 4x06, Paley chat, and a few more that I can't think of right now. But don't be shy! PM me on here, leave it in a review, or message me directly on tumblr or twitter :)_

_Love you guys. Thank you for all the feedback and support thus far!_

**I do not own Pretty Little Liars.**

* * *

After leaving Toby's in such a rush, Spencer sat in her room staring at the ceiling for hours. What was she going to do now? She had, by all accounts, cheated on Alex. She knew her feelings for Toby were still present but she never thought she'd lose all inhibitions and make-out with him on his porch. And she certainly had been surprised by his mirroring enthusiasm. It felt like he had missed them as much as she had.

She knew she still didn't have all the answers to the truth of what happened last summer, especially between she and Toby, but could Toby really still feel the same way as he had then? After everything that had happened?

Knowing that Toby had gone to reform school for a year to protect her from a similar fate was mind-blowing. She never imagined anyone doing something so selfless for her. It was hard for her to wrap her mind around the fact that someone cared about her that much that they would damage their future just to protect her. She had to be missing something, right? People couldn't be that altruistic, could they? It felt like something out of a romance novel… a very messed up one in fact.

She almost didn't want to believe it because it still meant she was the reason why Toby was put through a world of pain because of her. But doing it for love hurt more than having him do it for hate. She wished she had known. She would have done so many things differently.

But then she remembered September 1st. Toby had broken up with her and confirmed her fears that he didn't want her. Was that true? Had his time in reform school made him regret his decision and wish he could take it back? Did he fall out of love with her when she let that police car leave with him in it after the fire?

Spencer knew she couldn't be alone with her thoughts. She needed a distraction, someone to talk to.

Toby was out since she wasn't even sure what was going on between them. Did they kiss because of how emotional they both were feeling? Was it real? Had his feelings transformed again back to where they once were? What happened now? Did he want to be with her? Was it just a one-time thing?

Spencer was leaving out of the door to head to Emily's before her brain could eject any more questions.

* * *

Spencer had almost forgotten that Emily's dad was home from being away. He had come home a few weeks ago. It explained why Emily was a lot happier and more relaxed lately. Spencer knew how hard it was having her dad away in Afghanistan fighting for their country when she'd only get occasional updates on whether he was safe or not.

Wayne Fields hugged Spencer when she stammered out a good-to-see-you type greeting. Emily's parents had always loved Spencer, especially her dad, and she had a feeling it was because they knew how protective Spencer could be about Emily. They loved knowing Emily had a strong-willed friend supporting and defending her.

"Emmy's upstairs studying. Maybe you can convince her to take a break?" he said, and then seemed to remember that he was talking to one of the top academics of Rosewood High and smiled. "Or maybe I should admit defeat?"

Spencer laughed. "I'll do what I can, sir. Everything in moderation!" she teased before heading upstairs to see her friend.

Emily hadn't been expecting her and looked up in surprise when Spencer knocked lightly before entering her bedroom.

"Spencer? What are you doing here?"

Spencer closed the door behind her and joined Emily on her bed. She had books laid out, but Spencer had a feeling she hadn't been getting in as much studying as her parents thought she was.

"I'm sorry. I just… really need to talk to you. I'm just pretty upset about what happened earlier today and I know I'm a bad person for saying so, but I'm just so confused and I don't know what to do."

Emily's eyes grew pained and she looked down. "Okay."

Spencer was confused why she looked so upset.

Finally, much longer than it should have taken, Spencer remembered that some pretty big news had come out earlier that day. Spencer hadn't been bothered by it in the slightest so it hadn't even occurred to her that Emily might think she would be upset about it.

"OH god, Em, not that. I don't care if you're into girls. You're like a sister to me. I love you no matter what."

Emily's big brown eyes found Spencer's, seeming surprised.

"Really?"

Spencer sent her a look and scooted closer, taking her hands in hers. "Of course. Emily, you're my best friend. You're like family to me. You're a better sister to me than my own blood sister and I wouldn't care if you were asexual or if you shaved your head or if you got so fat you had to roll down the street to get anywhere. You're still Emily Fields. And I love Emily Fields. I always will, unconditionally."

Emily's eyes spilled tears and she moved closer to hug her tightly. Spencer squeezed her back, smiling a little. Sometimes it was nice to know she had said the right thing.

Emily pulled back and wiped her eyes, crossing her legs as she settled across from her friend. "So what happened earlier that you're so upset about …?"

Spencer felt selfish now, bringing it back to her and Toby when Emily was still dealing with being exposed as gay in front of her friends and confronting old painful feelings about the late girl she had loved.

"Are you sure you don't want to talk about what happened earlier? Or Alison? I mean, what I wanted to talk about can wait…"

Emily shook her head. "That is the last thing I want to talk about. I would love a distraction. What happened? Something with Alex…?"

Spencer bit her lip as another wave of guilt flowed through her like an electric current. "Um, sort of."

Emily raised her eyebrows at her, urging her to continue.

Spencer sighed. "It's bad, Em. I screwed up."

"How so?" Emily asked, looking intrigued. Spencer didn't often admit to being wrong.

"I…" Spencer began, but trailed off as she thought back to what happened only a few houses away. Remembering the way Toby's lips felt on hers, the way he pulled her so close, the feelings that ran through her as they exchanged affection, it was just too much. Spencer's tears started falling and Emily immediately looked concerned.

She took the brunette's hand. "Spence…?"

"I sort of… cheated on him… Em, me and Toby kissed." she admitted, unable to look at Emily while she spoke and trying to control her emotions from taking over.

Emily was stunned. She had no idea how to react to this. She knew Spencer was feeling incredibly guilty but she also knew she was upset because of how confusing things were with Toby. This only added another layer of complication.

"Spence…"

"I know. I'm a horrible person. I just… I went to see Toby since he's out on bail and then we were talking and things got… emotional… and next thing I know we're kissing…"

Emily squeezed Spencer's hand.

"Things with Alex were in such a good place today by the end of things. I mean, I didn't know what he was keeping from me but when my mom told me it only made me adore him more… but I still felt a pull to Toby. I like Alex, I really do, but…"

"But you think Toby will always own more of your heart?"

Spencer nodded. "It's awful, I know. Alex is such a good guy. I can't find anything to complain about… but…"

"He's not Toby." Emily finished for her, understanding.

Spencer sighed and leaned back to lie on Emily's bed. "I really hate this following-my-heart thing. I much prefer logical facts to base decisions off of."

Emily chuckled, but her phone suddenly buzzed. Maya's face lit up the screen to alert she was calling.

The swimmer lifted the phone up and pressed ignore, texting back an apology and explaining she'd call her back later.

Her phone beeped a moment later and Emily's face broke into a bashful smile.

It didn't take Spencer's high IQ to put two and two together.

"Oh my god…. You and Maya?!" Spencer exclaimed excitedly, forgetting all about her troubles at the sight of Emily's happiness.

Emily bit her lip, smiling, and nodded. "I nearly blew it trying to ignore my feelings… and taking Toby to homecoming really upset her since Hanna made her believe that I wanted to take her… but after talking to Toby and you guys finding out, I decided I wanted to make things work."

"You talked to Toby about it?"

"He figured it out on his own first, but he helped me come to terms with it." she explained.

Spencer muttered under her breath and Emily swore it sounded something like 'perceptive bastard'.

"Have you told your parents yet?" Spencer asked, seeing Emily's smirk and figuring correctly that she had heard her annoyed outburst.

"Um… no. You know my parents, Spence. We're the 'perfect military family'." she mocked. "They'd never accept me."

It was Spencer's turn to take Emily's hand. "Hey, Em, they love you. It may be hard for them to adjust to at first, but they'll come around. And then you and Maya can really be together. I see how happy she makes you… it all makes so much more sense now."

Emily smiled, mulling over her words.

Spencer suddenly grew sly. "So have you two kissed yet?"

Emily's cheeks flooded pink and Spencer laughed, high-fiving her.

"That's my girl." she teased, dragging her down next to her on the bed so they could properly gossip about their most recent kisses like regular teen girls.

* * *

A few days had passed since Spencer and Toby had kissed. She had been avoiding Alex like the plague, but when she mentioned she and her mom were going to pick up coffee at the local cafe before school, while she was standing outside, she noticed a familiar car pulling up across the street.

They had exchanged a few kisses and flirty words, but Spencer's heart wasn't as into it as it should have been. She still hadn't told him about Toby. She knew it was wrong to not only lie to him but lead him on, but she still very much liked Alex. Truth be told, she had very much enjoyed dating him despite all the chaos that was going on with her ex-boyfriend. It was a nice break from it. And frankly, she really needed a little positive reinforcement these days.

Her mom typically interrupted their encounter and Spencer suggested they continue things later, which he was all for. She crossed back over the pavement to accept coffee from her mom and waited for the lecture, but her mom was wrapped up in conversation on her Blackberry with her dad.

Apparently Ian had his stuff from the storage unit sent to their house, which was all well and good for him moving into the barn with Melissa, his new wife, save for the fact that they were away on their honeymoon.

And discounted honeymoon by the looks of things. Spencer was still in disbelief that Melissa was happy with this new life when she had spent her entire childhood listening to Melissa ramble off about colour schemes and bridesmaids dresses and song choices as well as going on some extravagant holiday of a honeymoon. In reality, she looked like she and Ian were going to be sharing a mall Slurpee as a fancy getaway.

When Spencer tried to bring this up to her mom, Veronica put her down immediately. Although she too agreed that their marriage was far too rushed, she liked seeing her daughter happy and told Spencer that she should just be happy for her sister. And of course she couldn't forget to drive the knife in a little deeper by reminding her that Spencer was the cause for Melissa's rough year.

Yeah. Her parents still hadn't let that go. She doubted her family ever would.

* * *

After being dropped off at school, Spencer spotted Aria and Hanna looking sad as they spoke with Emily at her locker.

When she approached, Spencer saw she was near tears.

"Hey, what's going on?"

Aria rubbed Emily's back supportively. "Em came out to her parents last night."

Spencer already knew the general consensus, but asked anyways. "How was that?"

"Rough." Emily replied gravelly, her throat no doubt hoarse from all the crying she must have done.

"It's going to be okay, Em." Spencer promised.

Emily shrugged. "I don't know what it's going to be, but it's going to be different. They want Maya to come for dinner tonight."

The other three exchanged a look. That was fast. But hopefully it would mean they'd become more accepting of Emily's newest reveal when they saw them together.

The warning bell sounded.

"I've got to get to French. Han, you coming?" Aria said to the blonde.

Hanna squeezed Emily's shoulder before following the tiny brunette.

"We need to get to Algebra." Spencer said and Emily nodded, closing her locker door and following.

Spencer could tell she was still wrapped up in her troubled thoughts.

"Are you worrying about tonight?"

Emily sighed. "I'm just not sure I wanna be there."

"It'll be fine. Just make sure Maya doesn't do all of the talking. If she starts going over a cliff, _you_ grab the wheel." Spencer told her reassuringly, knowing that Maya was a little different than what Emily's parents were probably expecting, but Maya was really a lovely girl. She was fun and spontaneous and she made Emily happy, so she was good in Spencer's books. She hoped Emily's parents would feel the same by the end of the night.

Before Spencer could continue, a familiar melodious voice was calling their names.

"Spencer, Emily, wait up!" Mona called, halting in front of them, beaming. "I just found out Hanna's mom has got some bank thingy in Scranton and won't be home until really late. So I want to do a surprise party! You know, welcome home Hanna, we love you with or without your spleen! I've checked with Mr. Hanna and Sean is totally down with it. We can turn it into a kind of celebration! You know, that we finally got the SATs over with?"

They had written the SATs the day after the storm. Spencer had felt pretty good about it, but her mind had been so wrapped up in Toby and A and everything else that celebrating was the last thing she had even thought of.

Emily, however, was amusedly correcting Mona. "They didn't take out her spleen."

Mona looked rather surprised. "Really? Oh, then I'll just change the theme." she said, waving a dismissive manicured hand and Spencer found it hard to believe that that tiny detail had any control over what colour streamers they used or the reason for the party.

But Spencer thought back to what Hanna had been through recently. She still tensed up every time she paused to cross the street. When anything banged, she'd jump a mile in the air. Surprising her with a huge crowd in her home probably wasn't the best idea. Especially since her mom would have no idea and Ashley Marin too had been through enough crap lately. "Mona. I'm really not sure Hanna's up to hosting a bunch of people at a party."

"Oh, please. She had been socializing with IV bags and bedpans for weeks. She'll love it. If you guys don't want to come, I'm sure she'll understand." she added, pulling her best sympathetic puppy dog face before skipping off again.

Spencer met Emily's eyes. They were going all right. If nothing else, they had to make sure Hanna would be okay. Spencer was not afraid to play bad cop and throw everyone out if Hanna didn't want them there.

* * *

After their early morning rendezvous, Spencer made the decision to text Alex to ask if he wanted to hang out that afternoon. She had field hockey until 4:30 but she was free after that.

Telling him to give her some extra time to shower and get changed, she told him she'd meet him at the front of the school at five.

At 5:10, Spencer came rushing out of the doors, spotting him reading some pamphlet flyer thing and bent to kiss him in greeting.

"Hey."

"Hey. I'm sorry, practice ran late." she explained.

Truth be told, she had spent far too long in the shower contemplating how on earth she was going to face him knowing she had kissed another guy that was not him and he had no idea.

He seemed to have trouble tearing his eyes away from the paper in his hands so she nodded towards it. "What's this?"

"A member of the club gave it to me. It's a tennis clinic in Sweden."

"Sweden? Why did he give it to you?" It wasn't exactly nearby…

"He wants me to apply. A lot of the people who go to it end up playing in the Swedish Open."

Wait, hold up! The Swedish Open was HUGE. It was an international World Tour 250 series tennis tournament. The fact that Spencer had heard of it when it was that far away was clue enough that it was big.

And Alex might PLAY in it?!

"God, Alex, that's amazing. You have to do it! Maybe I could get an internship over there like in Stockholm or something." she suggested, thinking about spending her days off cheering him on and roaming through Millesgarden. It would be the perfect excuse to get away from her screwed up family at least. And she doubted A would follow her there.

Alex didn't seem even slightly enthusiastic. "Spence, slow down. I'm not going."

"Why? If this guy recommended you, he must think you're up to it. I think you're up to it. You are fantastic." she told him. She figured he just didn't think he was good enough. But she had seen Alex play and he was really good. Like, the big leagues good.

"I can't go. I told my uncle I'd work for him. He needs the bodies." he explained as he started down the stairs.

Alex was supposed to be working construction for his uncle this summer. But really? Choosing manual labour over something this incredible? It was a no-brainer for her. "Your uncle can find other bodies to help him rip down buildings. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity—"

"I don't want to go." he interrupted.

Spencer couldn't help herself. She couldn't let it go. "So you'd rather spend the rest of your summer tossing broken plaster into a dumpster? That's insane."

"Maybe to you. I'm not interested in playing pro. I'd rather be here, working, saving for college."

His tone came off a little harsh and she realized she might have pushed things a little too far.

Spencer softened her voice. "Okay, I get that, and that's good. But how can you turn this down?"

"Like this." he said pointedly, tossing it into the nearest trash bin, but it was clear he wasn't in as friendly a mood anymore. "So you ready?"

Spencer followed dutifully, wondering why they were fighting so much more these days.

* * *

Thankfully, after they settled in at dinner, things lightened up between the pair. Spencer knew things were still awkward because of her, but she couldn't shake the fear that Alex knew of her infidelity and was just waiting for her to admit it.

He seemed normal, but with his opinions seeming to differ from hers more and more these days, she was wondering if it wasn't just his subtle way of lashing out. She couldn't be certain though. She knew a part of her wasn't really trying with him.

Spencer was almost grateful that Mona had decided to throw Hanna a party. Spencer didn't fancy hanging out with Alex alone for the rest of the night with the current tension between them.

He seemed just as enthusiastic for the distraction and agreed to it. Spencer excused herself to quickly say hi to a gradually-relaxing Hanna and Alex offered to go get her a drink.

Spencer didn't know what to do. She knew things between she and Toby had been confusing lately, even more so now, but was it really smart to pine after him after all that happened? For all she knew that was just a moment of weakness and his feelings for her really had been buried long ago. Maybe he had just missed human contact. It wasn't a mystery that he was pretty ostracized in this town.

But regardless of what Toby's feelings were, was she really going to deny a sweet guy like Alex the chance to win her heart? They had been so good together for a while. Things were tense now, but maybe they could get back to that place. She had to at least try. She didn't want to always wonder about him the way she had been about Toby since their break-up. She wanted to be sure with who she was with.

They really needed to get away from all the distractions, from Toby and her family and A, and spend some real time together. That's the only way she could figure it out.

Spencer knew that her lake house was free this time of year. Maybe they could go up there for a day or two? With her mom's liking of Alex, she may even allow it. But if not, she was sure Aria or someone would cover for her. Best friends were great for those sorts of things.

She was sitting on the stairs when he returned with the red plastic cup.

"Here you go."

She smiled as she graciously took it. "Thanks. So, um, I was thinking… my parents have this little place up in Bucks County. What if we could sneak away up there next weekend? Please, just don't say no until I at least show you a picture."

Alex smiled in return. "You had me at 'I was thinking'."

Spencer grinned and returned the oncoming kiss. But as his lips moved over hers, her mind pulled up something from her past.

"_You had me at 'I was thinking'_." Toby had said in response to her suggestion of skipping school for the afternoon. That day they had had their first proper date. Memories of kissing on the train, trying on silly clothes, kissing under the stars flooded her mind and her mouth halted on Alex's.

Seeing Noel passing through people also made the discomfort roll in her belly and she pulled away.

"What just happened?" Alex asked, clearly surprised at the sudden change in behaviour.

Spencer felt like her heart had just been stomped on but didn't want Alex to know what was really bothering her. "Nothing. I just… it's just a little bit busy in here."

It was rather crowded and she never really was someone for PDA. As much as she didn't care what other people thought, she was raised with manners and a certain belief in what was okay in public.

"Well, let's go outside." Alex suggested, a rather simple solution.

Spencer nodded. "Okay. I'll meet you out there. I'm just going to go upstairs and use the bathroom."

He nodded and headed outside while she made her way upstairs.

After Spencer waited for Mona to finish perfecting her eyebrows in the mirror, she closed the door behind her and gripped the sink as the tears finally fell.

Was she doomed to have memories of her relationship with Toby haunt her forever? He had been her first real boyfriend of sorts… she had dated before but never felt for anyone the way she had with him. Would she forever more hear his voice echoing in her head, see a glimpse of his smile in every window, crave the feeling of his hand in hers? Was she going to forever long for what they had?

Wiping her face, she pulled herself together and cleaned herself up. She didn't want to look like she had been crying. That was all she needed—for Alex to start asking questions.

Spencer made her way outside and spotted Alex sitting on the single swing. She came up behind him, leaning close to his ear as she gripped the ropes of the swing.

"It took forever to get into that bathroom. Mona was spending quality time with her eyebrows…" she said mockingly, rolling her eyes. But Alex didn't seem very amused. She straightened up. "Hey, whats' wrong?"

"I'm gonna take off."

"Why? Where are we going?" she asked. Was he really having that bad of a time at the party? She didn't mind going somewhere else. After all, she figured that's why they were going outside.

"I don't know what you're doing, but I'm going home." he said, clearly irritated with her and began walking away. He turned around, shaking his head. "Couldn't resist, could you?"

He held up his phone, some sort of email or message lighting the screen.

"What am I looking at?" she asked, unable to tell from so far away.

"An emailed confirmation of my application to the tennis clinic."

He applied? Wow! Maybe she had gotten through to him! "Okay." she said with a bit of a smile in pride at her handiwork.

"Which was sent in _electronically._."

He was still pissed. Oh… oh no…

"You think I did that?"

"You're the only person I told." he said as if that was all there could be to the story.

"Yeah, but I didn't." she replied honestly.

"Spencer, get real, okay? You and I want different things. You say you're okay with that, but you're not, and you never will be." Alex snapped.

Spencer pulled out her best mature-conversation tone, speaking slowly and clearly. "I did not send that in, but I apologize if I made you feel you—"

"Don't. Don't apologize for who you are and what you want." he said passionately, and she almost believed he meant it in a good way for a moment. "I'm not going to."

And with that he walked away and Spencer knew he was done with her for good.

She was so shocked she didn't know what to do. It had all happened so fast. And how dare he not listen to her! She could've proven it too if he had given her some time.

Her phone beeped as she sunk into the swing.

_Point, set, match! –xo A_

Spencer cringed. Of course. Who else could have set up something so malicious?

She felt a few tears fall. Well, so much for her and Alex. She wasn't really sure if she was heartbroken or not. She really had liked Alex, but this certainly made things less complicated. At least she didn't have to feel so guilty for kissing Toby the other night now that she had no one she was really hiding it from.

"Spencer?"

Spencer looked up to see Aria coming up the sidewalk, looking concerned.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

Spencer lifted her phone to show her the message. "Alex and I broke up. Guess who's to blame?"

Aria squeezed her hand. "Let's talk about it inside, okay?"

The taller of the two nodded and followed her inside.

* * *

After explaining exactly what happened, Spencer sat desolately on the staircase. Aria had excused herself to say hi to Hanna and came back to find Spencer staring longingly at her phone.

"You need to call Alex."

"And tell him what? I can't undo this without telling him about A. Unless you think I should go into the kitchen and ask A to put down a piece of pizza and call Alex himself?" Spencer added irritably, thinking of the blue-eyed popular guy laughing hard in the kitchen with Hanna's boyfriend.

"Stop. We don't know that Noel is that person. And besides, you and Alex were good together, right? He seems like a pretty stand-up guy. I'm sure if you try explaining when he's less upset…"

"Aria, just drop it. It's fine." she said, harsher than she meant to.

Aria caught her hands in her own. "I'm sorry, Spence. I just don't like seeing you upset."

"Look, it's … for the best. I was going to end things soon anyways. At least now he'll hate me less."

Only Emily knew about what happened between her and Toby so Aria was confused.

"Why?"

Spencer sighed. She really wasn't in the emotional place to drag up all of that, especially not at a crowded party.

"Let's just say A could have used something worse to end things with Alex, okay?"

"Okay. Why did A want to break you guys up? Was it just to make you miserable? I'm not even sure what A wants anymore, are you?" the big-eyed tiny girl asked.

Spencer glared over at Noel. It's not like he had exactly always been a stand-up guy. After all, he was the one who was bullying Toby the first time Spencer and he interacted. "Do you know what happens when you put four lobsters into a tank and cut off their food supply?"

"They start to eat each other." Aria finished, understanding what she was saying. A was trying to pin them against each other, get them so miserable and paranoid that they start taking it out on each other and have it break them apart.

Noel stood at the bottom of the stairs, looking at them pointedly. "Can I get to the bathroom? Is there a magic password?"

Spencer realized she and Aria were blocking the stairs but she didn't feel like moving. Not for him.

Aria, polite as ever, shifted her legs. She leaned over to Spencer once he passed.

"Okay, if we find out that he is who we think he is, what are we prepared to do about it?"

Spencer shrugged. She had enough to worry about right now.

* * *

Toby had resorted to rock bottom measures.

He was currently stabbing at his ankle monitor with a screwdriver, sick of trying to play nice with it and just needing it off now. He had to be careful not to set it off, but no doubt once it became unhinged it would alarm.

But he didn't care. He needed to see Spencer. He needed to finish telling her what he wanted to tell her the night he had been arrested.

After their kiss, he had that very potentially fatal thing called hope brewing. Hope that Spencer still could feel for him the way he felt for her. Hope that they could fix this. That they could get back to where they were.

But he had no way of telling her this besides seeking her out. His parents had confiscated his phone for now. At least until he was off house arrest. He was under such strict orders not to talk to people that could potentially harm his case that they decided having a phone was 'too much of a temptation' and any conversations he might have might come back to bite him. But he needed to talk to Spencer. And he couldn't call her and he couldn't walk there with the ball and chain currently strapped to his leg, so he was doing what he could to cancel out the latter.

The door behind him suddenly opened and he slipped the screwdriver underneath a leg.

"You hungry?"

Of course. Just to make his night extra awesome. Jenna was here.

The only positive thing was that she couldn't have seen what he had been doing. But he also knew she had ears like a hawk, her other senses overcompensating for the loss of her sight, and that she had probably heard him struggling with it.

"No." he replied as politely as he could.

Jenna sat next to him.

"You never told me that Spencer tried to talk to me." Toby said, deciding now was a good time to confront that issue. He didn't exactly feel like having feel-good-family-moments with her. If he was going to put up with her, it was only to get answers.

"Why would I? What can she say now that's gonna make it better?" Jenna sneered.

"She believes I didn't kill Alison. She doesn't think I've done all that this town is saying I have been."

He couldn't see behind her dark sunglasses, but he figured she was rolling her eyes.

"So? Her believing in you doesn't really change much."

"It changes a lot to me."

"Yeah, well, we both know where your feelings for her lead—reform school for a year and now prison for first degree murder. Great track record you have there."

"It's not like she was the one that turned me in. It's not her fault I got caught." Toby argued.

"I know that."

What did that mean?

"How?"

"Because I did."

Toby stopped breathing. She… what…

"How? Why?"

He hadn't even seen Jenna that day. It's not like he went back to his house to say goodbye to her.

"I have my ways. Look, Toby, if you're running around like you're some kind of fugitive, how are you going to prove that you're innocent? You need to be home. Where you're safe." she said, migrating closer, her hand reaching out to caress his face. Her lips drew closer and he knew where she was going with it.

He snatched up her hand. "You could chain me to this porch and I'd still never touch you like that again." he told her lowly.

Her face screwed up in fury and she slapped him so hard he felt almost dizzy for a second.

"Who do you think you're talking to?" she snarled before getting up and storming inside.

Toby sighed and went back to work on his ankle monitor. He really needed to get out of this place.

* * *

Spencer arrived home after the party, realizing she hadn't actually eaten much, and dug through her fridge for something to snack on.

Not finding anything of any real value in there, she gave up, figuring she should head upstairs.

Although the living room was bursting with Ian's boxes, she managed to spot her dad coming down the stairs.

"Hey, Dad."

He smiled broadly at the sight of her. She was still getting used to that. "Hey, Spence. I didn't even know you were here. I would've watched the game down here with you. Your mother makes me watch it on mute."

"Just got home." she explained. Her eyes cast back to the cardboard flooded living room. "He's got a lot of stuff, Ian."

"Yeah. Suddenly he's… everywhere, isn't he? Well, maybe it'll inspire your sister to finish that condo so that they can move in."

"Dad, they might never move out of here. Melissa _loves_ the barn." she added, still bitter that she had stolen it from her at the beginning of the year. Her whole summer wasted… all her plans…

"Yeah, well, Melissa has always needed a little nudge once and a while. That's why your mother thinks Ian is so good for her. He's impulsive and passionate."

Something about his wording caught Spencer's attention. "You don't agree?" she asked amusedly.

He smirked. "I have a few other choice words I would reserve for Ian… but if I start listing them, I'll never fall asleep." he replied.

Spencer knew she and her father got along better than she and her mother for a reason.

Her dad made to move upstairs again, but he paused. "Oh, uh… I spoke to a friend of mine on the police force tonight. That blood stain on that sweater of Toby Cavanaugh's was a match. I don't think that kid is going to be around much longer to scare you."

Wait, what?!

"It's Alison's blood?" she asked hoarsely.

He nodded.

But… but Toby hadn't done anything!

"Does that mean it's done? They're not going to investigate anyone else?" she asked.

Come on, what about Ian?! What about the tree?

Her dad looked surprised by her questions. "I thought you'd be relieved. Don't stay up too late."

Spencer nodded numbly and buried her face in her arms on the kitchen island.

If they didn't investigate anyone else… if Toby went to jail for a murder he didn't commit…

She had to find a way to prove that he was innocent… but how? In this town, the only real way was to prove that somebody else was guilty.

Spencer sat up, figuring she should call one of the girls, when she noticed a tag hanging off Ian's suitcase.

_Hilton Head._

Hilton Head? That golf resort Ali went to with her grandmother the weekend before she died?

Spencer remembered questioning Ali about it, noticing the tag on her suitcase when Alison had gotten out of the cab the day of their sleepover. Her grandmother lived in Georgia and Hilton Head was in South Carolina… why would her grandmother go for a day trip all the way to Hilton Head?

It hadn't made sense then and maybe it was because Ali hadn't gone with her grandmother at all. Maybe she had been there with Ian. Maybe they had had a relationship and that tree wasn't a lie.

And if that was true, maybe Ian really killed Alison, which meant Spencer needed to prove Ian was guilty before Toby got thrown in jail for life.


	24. Chapter 24

_You guys are awesome! So many detailed, overly sweet reviews last chapter! You guys blow me away, I love you all so much._

_Here is another much anticipated chapter for any Spoby shipper ;) This chapter features episode 113 and we all know what that means! ;) Sorry for the wait, I just wanted it to be perfect. I ended up having to scrap the alley scene a few times to get it right. Hope it's not too confusing since it switches POVs but it was the best of both worlds for me. Enjoy!_

**I do not own Pretty Little Liars.**

* * *

Spencer capped her coffee, glancing at the clock on the wall. She had to leave for school soon but not without her trusty espresso pick-me-up. She seriously could not function without the caffeine boost and mocha flavour rolling over her tongue in the mornings.

She startled when Ian entered the kitchen. Ever since that tree went missing, she was scared he knew that she was suspicious of him. And if he had killed Alison, maybe he'd apply the same practice to get her to permanently shut up.

"Morning. You okay? You seem a little jumpy."

"Yeah. You surprised me, that's all. I just didn't know you were back." she lied.

Truth be told, she had snuck downstairs as quietly as possible the night before to eavesdrop on him and Melissa talking in the kitchen. It had been late, even her parents were asleep, and she was sure the conversation was supposed to be very private, but she needed to know what was going on. Unfortunately, a creak in the step sent her rushing back upstairs while Melissa bolted to check who had been listening.

Spencer was pretty sure she had gotten away in time but it took almost an hour for her heart to stop racing.

It didn't help that A had sent her a taunting 'Married for love or an alibi?' text shortly after the whole ordeal. Could Ian have really married Melissa just to hide something?

"We didn't wake you last night, did we? You didn't hear us…" Ian asked slowly.

Oh god, he totally knew.

"No. Like I said, I didn't even know you were back." she said with a fake smile. She nodded towards the boxes in the living room as she leaned against the counter. "So is this all going in the barn?"

"Have you seen your sister's wardrobe? No, the movers are coming on Friday. We're going to move into our place in Philly."

"Oh."

Ian began preparing the stove for frying the eggs he had taken from the fridge. "Listen, Spence, um, I know our decision to get married seems sudden and I get that it's thrown you, but you know, we're family now. I hope you start thinking of me like that."

Was he seriously… Oh, he needed to get over himself. Did he seriously think she was uncomfortable because they had shared a kiss once upon a time? Please. She had forgotten about that moment of idiocy long ago.

"So how was the honeymoon?" Spencer asked, choosing not to reply to his statement.

"Oh, it was perfect." he said enthusiastically.

Spencer wanted to scoff but held it in. She was pretty sure they had stayed at what was equivalent to a two star motel and walked around a baseball field for a nature walk, but whatever.

She spotted the Hilton Head tagged bag of golf clubs and smirked a little to herself at her slyness. "No golf for the newlyweds?"

"Well, you know, we spent most of our time indoors." he said with a suggestive chuckle.

Ew. She did not need that image, thanks.

Spencer fingered the yellow tag. "Hey, have you ever played here?" She was a Hastings. She wasn't letting him get off the hook that easily.

"Hilton Head?"

"Yeah, Alison went to a tournament there with her grandmother."

"Really?" he replied in a rather monotone way. She could tell he was uncomfortable.

"Uh-huh, she disappeared the night she got home."

Nothing.

"Is it a nice course?" Spencer continued.

"Uh, yeah, from what I remember. But it was years ago." he said, cracking open the eggs now.

The sizzling drowned out any opportunity for more conversation and Spencer was fairly certain that was on purpose.

She headed upstairs to grab her stuff before leaving for school.

* * *

Spencer met up with Emily and Hanna before school, refilling her coffee cup because one was never enough, and decided to use the extra time to do some sleuthing.

Although Emily questioned her, Spencer called up Hilton Head and put on a fake accent and spun a story so that the receptionist would be able to pull up Ian's reservation and tell her when he was there.

It had worked. Apparently her practice on the prison guards manning the phone where Toby was locked up had paid off.

Alison had exited her cab the afternoon before she disappeared all sun-tanned and giggly. Having a weekend with an older boy, tricking everyone into believing she was with her grandmother in Georgia when she was in fact in South Carolina, had Ali written all over it.

As it turned out, Ian was definitely there the same weekend as Ali had been, which meant not only had he lied, but he may be lying about something much bigger. He may have killed her.

Of course, that morning, they also saw Agent Cooper, the FBI lady, for the last time. She was heading back home now that they had found Ali's killer, or so they thought. Spencer had squirmed uncomfortably that Toby being thrown permanently behind bars was the subject of the conversation and was grateful when the woman finally departed.

But maybe they really had a reason now for her to stick around?

* * *

"Cooper's not some small town cop who's gonna arrest Spencer's brother-in-law because Ali carved his name into tree." Hanna was saying once they arrived at school.

"Yeah, a tree that's no longer there." Aria added.

"No one knows that but us."

"And Ian." Spencer interjected.

"And A."

"Noel led us to that tree for a reason." Spencer said seriously.

Aria glanced behind them through the big window to see Noel and some other guys chatting outside. "Is A… I mean, is Noel trying to help us find Ali's killer?"

"A helping us? Wow, that's a first." Hanna said sarcastically.

Spencer still found the idea of Noel as A kind of odd. Sure, he was popular and had proved he could be a jackass when he wanted to be, but was he really this level of malicious? And how did he know so many intimate details of their lives? It's not like they had even hung out much. "How could Noel even know about Ian and Ali?"

"Have you ever noticed how Noel is always around?" Aria commented, but was distracted by the sight of Noel greeting her younger brother Mike. The pair got into a conversation and it looked to be serious.

"Are they friends?" Emily asked slowly.

Aria didn't turn around, analyzing the two boys intensely. "No."

"Hanna's right about Cooper. We need to find some sort of proof." Spencer said, trying to bring the conversation back to what they were originally arguing about.

"Thank you, Veronica Mars." Hanna replied.

Spencer rolled her eyes at her.

"That proof may be boxed in your kitchen." Emily reminded her.

Maya suddenly approached the table and smiled at the four of them. "Hi."

Emily immediately got up. "Hey." She kissed her in greeting while the other three looked on happily. It was so nice seeing Emily so happy.

"Um, are we still on for later? You know, now that your dad's gone?" Maya asked her quietly.

Emily's dad had been sent to Texas to assist with some training.

"Yeah, my mom knows how my dad feels about us."

Maya sent her a look. "In other words, he'll tolerate me."

"She's spending the day in the city, okay, so you'll be safe, I promise." Emily chuckled.

"What's later?" Spencer couldn't help herself from asking. Did they have some big romantic date planned? She would hope Emily would have spilled to them about it, but Emily had always been pretty private.

"Um, studying." she replied, but the three of them wondered if her 'um' was because she was fibbing.

Hanna was the first to jump in the ring. "Is that girl-on-girl code for romance?" she teased.

Emily laughed alongside Maya. "No, Hanna, we're actually studying."

"Yeah, but your friend is a romantic." Maya promised with a grin.

This was news to them.

Spencer's smile broadened. "Is she?"

Emily nodded. "Oh yeah. Walks in the rain, picnics by the lake, dancing naked in candlelight…"

Maya hummed in approval.

The three of their mouths fell open. They did nothing like that with their significant others.

Emily couldn't keep up the façade and laughed again. "I'm just kidding. We go to dinner and a movie just like you guys."

"Well, she's not entirely kidding. Emily would love to do all of those things." Maya teased.

"Okay, you've shared enough." Emily giggled, shooing her away. "_Oh my god_." she mouthed at her friends, before burying her giggles into her girlfriend and leaving the cafeteria.

The other three couldn't talk about anything as negative as Alison's murder or Ian when they had just witnessed something so full of life and beauty. They had never seen Emily this happy and carefree and after everything that happened, they were so glad she had found Maya and was following her heart.

Spencer only felt the smallest of tugs at her heart, remembering a day when she and Toby had what the two girls did.

* * *

Spencer was on her way back from AP Russian History when she heard the halls buzzing with hushed tones and wondered what was going on.

Hanna, Aria and Emily were at Hanna's locker when Spencer heard the 'Hey, freak coming through' from some idiot around the corner.

"Back off. Get to class." a gruff voice replied.

Toby came around the corner, escorted by his guard, and Spencer stopped breathing. She hadn't seen him since their kiss.

"Hey." another one said, but the guard cut in.

"Step back."

So that explained who was speaking earlier.

Toby's face was void from any emotion. He only hesitated slightly when he went to open his locker. There was a sinisterly red-painted _Killer_ emblazed across the door.

A lump formed in Spencer's throat watching him, her heart breaking as she drew closer. She stood next to Emily, watching the scene unfold.

Toby passed, his eyes flickering to hers for a moment and she felt tears fill her eyes. He was being so strong.

Another idiot guy stepped in front of him. "Murderer." he spat.

Toby's face didn't change.

"Step aside, please." the officer instructed and he and Toby continued on.

Spencer watched Toby disappear out of the front doors, wondering what could be going through his head. That couldn't have been easy. She desperately wanted to chase after him.

She had been avoiding him lately, too scared to confront him when her feelings were so mixed up, but it also meant she was letting him go through this alone. And mirroring feelings or not, she wanted to be there for him. It wasn't fair.

But did he want her to be there for him?

* * *

After a long day at school, Spencer needed to blow off some steam. Ian and Melissa were going out shopping later but for now were being cutesy in her kitchen and it was making Spencer lose her appetite for the next week.

She decided to get out of the house, go for a run, and figure out what on earth she was going to do about her and Toby.

Speak of the devil, Spencer was running along Main when she spotted him across the street. He was out for a walk too. If he saw her, would he stop her to talk? After their last few interactions, was that to be expected?

She immediately ducked behind a parked car, feeling like an idiot.

She wondered how he could be out and about without his ankle monitor, but then remembered that he had been at school so they must have deactivated it. Did that mean he didn't have to wear it anymore? Or did he just get some kind of weird one-day pass?

That would be pretty stupid though because the whole point of it was that it was so criminals _couldn't_ be out and about.

Spencer saw the people in the nearby stores and walking keeping their eyes on him. It frustrated her that their shifty eyes were staring at someone she knew to be innocent. Toby hadn't done anything. That much she was positive of. So seeing him get this kind of reaction out of people upset her. How dare they judge him.

Her guilty conscience reminded her that she was among them once, and that she knew him better than the rest of this town.

Her guilt only increased tenfold when a maroon car drove by and a guy leaned out. "Why don't you save us the cost of the trial and drop dead!" he shouted obnoxiously before the car spun around the corner.

Only someone who knew Toby as well as she did would be able to see the subtle cringe he had responded with at the harsh words thrown his way. Other than that, he kept walking, his face becoming stony once more.

It was like earlier at school. He had barely blinked at the sight of the cruel label on his locker. Even as the bitter students called him names or provoked him, he still had remained silent and strong. It was impossible that the words hadn't hurt, especially based on the change in those telling eyes of his. He may keep his face neutral but he couldn't mask the changing colour of his eyes.

Spencer's observation of her secretly sad lost love was interrupted by a slight smile gracing his handsome face. Two little boys were heading in his direction, licking their ice cream cones happily, and her heart warmed a little at the thought of blissful children making Toby happy.

But the world was cruel. It was proving time and time again that Toby couldn't even have one sliver of happiness without it being torn away from him viciously, like a scolded child with an aggressive parent. His smile was harshly taken from his face like an obnoxious toy from a child's happy hands.

The older of the two boys had grabbed the younger one's hand, his face full of fear, and hurriedly dragged his probable brother across the street.

Spencer stopped breathing at the change in Toby.

It was clear something inside him had snapped. Some limit had been hit. He was done.

His posture changed and his pace quickened, his hands deep in his pockets now, and he whipped in the alleyway like a shadow, his arms flying out behind him as he slipped between the iron gates.

Toby couldn't do it anymore. He had been strong for too long, put up with too much, kept quiet when he wanted to scream one too many times. But enough was enough. He was sick of keeping his mouth shut, of constantly being kicked when he was down, of trying to convince himself that everything was fine when it wasn't.

He was stuck back in the house from hell, with Jenna snooping around every corner, that tap-tap-tap of her stick proving more sinister than the reminiscent sound of her tiptoeing feet. He had lost his dignity from Jenna and reform school and being exposed in so many ways in this town; he lost his reputation when he took the fall for the fire and being accused of murder; and now, it felt like he was losing himself.

But the worst loss of all would have to be Spencer. After their kiss the other day, he had hoped to get things back on track. But looking at the way the town treated him, he couldn't drag her into this. It was why he broke up with her in the first place, the day he visited Rosewood. As much as he hated to say it, Alison had been right. He would only ruin Spencer's life if he tried to become involved in it again. It was wrong of him to be so selfish. He didn't want her to know this feeling of being ostracized. He didn't want her to know what it felt like to lose everything you ever had.

Toby slid down the wall, collapsing on the ground and hugging his knees.

If he didn't have Spencer, what in the hell was he putting up with all of this for? She had been his guiding light through reform school, through being in jail, but he couldn't ask her to give up all that she had worked for just for him. She wouldn't be happy. Spencer's future was everything to her. He couldn't take that away.

Tears fell from his eyes and he bowed his head forward, gripping his hair in his hands, his elbows leaning on his knees.

He startled when he suddenly felt a hand on his arm.

Looking up, he was staring into the eyes of none other than the youngest Hastings. Her mocha eyes were full of tears, wide with concern and pain, and she had thrown herself in his arms before he could try to pull himself together.

She was here. She still wanted to be there for him. Maybe he couldn't be with her in the way he wanted but maybe this meant he didn't have to give her up completely.

With that moment of realization, he fell apart in her arms. The sobs racked his body as the love of his life squeezed him supportively, letting him know that he wasn't really alone. Spencer was there. She believed in him. And that's all he really needed.

Her hands petted down his hair, shushing him soothingly as she held him tightly to her chest.

When he went to pull back, Spencer let her fingers brush away his fallen tears.

"Toby…" she murmured sadly, her own eyes still wet as she gazed at the broken boy.

"What are you doing here?" he asked gruffly, swiping at his face embarrassedly now. He hadn't meant for her to ever see him this way.

She wrapped her hands around his wrists, halting his actions, and tugged them so he'd look at her properly. "I was out for a run when I saw you. I saw what happened."

"It was nothing." he lied.

She was smarter than that. You don't have a breakdown when something meant nothing. "Toby…"

"I just have to get used to it, Spencer. This is how the town sees me. I'm the delinquent that started a fire and blinded his step-sister and I'm the guy who murdered Alison DiLaurentis. The truth doesn't matter in this town. People believe what they want to believe."

She cupped his face in her hands, not liking his quitter talk. "Toby, we are going to clear your name. I'm working on it. Don't let these idiots get to you. You know who you are and you always have. I admire that about you. So I don't want you to see you differently because some people believe the lies circling around."

Toby straightened up some. "What do you mean you're 'working on it'? Spencer, don't mix yourself up in this."

"Yeah, like I'm going to let you rot in a jail cell."

"Spencer, listen to me. This is dangerous stuff. If you're not careful, you'll be next!" he said fearfully. "I don't want you to go through this because of me when I've spent all this time trying to protect you."

"Which is only more reason why I need to try to make up to you all you've done for me. I can't have your entire life ruined all because of me. I've only poisoned your life since I came into it." she muttered quietly.

It was true. If Toby hadn't mixed himself up with her in the first place, Ali wouldn't have been able to convince Toby to take the fall for them. And, although her reasons for starting the fire in the first place were fuzzy at best now, she wouldn't have even thrown the 'stink bomb' in the first place. Spencer was the true reason that Jenna was blind and that's why she had such a hard time with it.

Toby, however, didn't agree. He looked horrified by her words.

"Spencer, don't say that. That's not true."

"Really?" she asked, her voice rather strangled now as she thought back to how much she had hurt him over their time together and apart. "Let's see… I helped blind your step-sister, let you take the fall for something you didn't do, sent you to reform school for a year, which you did just to protect me. When you come back, everyone is scared of you, and then I let myself believe some of the lies and second-guess you because of some false accusations, and then you are accused of murder. You run out of town, get into a motorcycle accident and nearly die, only to come back to clear the air with me and get thrown into jail again. And now you're on house arrest and have people wishing you'd drop dead. Tell me, what part of that life did you enjoy the most? Because you're crazy to think that all of that didn't happen because of me."

"You know, you're coming off rather self-absorbed right now…"

Spencer stared at him a minute before realizing he was actually making a joke right now. She gaped at him before bursting into hysterical laughter, burying them in his shoulder.

He curled his arm around her, holding her in place as he too laughed. It felt good to laugh. He hadn't laughed like this in… god knows how long. Probably since before the fire the previous July.

Unconsciously, Toby played with her hair as their laughter died down and he grew serious. "Spencer, I know it seems that way. But you forget how miserable my life was before you came into it. And honestly, Alison would have done what she did with or without your help. Without you, I wouldn't have had the strength to survive that year of reform school or all of this. You were the one thing that kept me pushing through all of the pain. You were the only thing in this world that was worth every bruise and cracked rib and beating I took."

Spencer analyzed her words in her Hastings way. Was he saying that in past tense because he was speaking of the past or because those feelings were only present in the past?

His fingers were playing with her hair and he seemed to be lost in thought.

She returned the favor, letting her fingertips play with the strands. "You really need to cut your hair, Tobes."

He smiled a little, his memory traveling back to that day in Philly. She had ran to him and kissed him so excitedly when she saw him come down the street with a shorter 'do.

"I seem to remember you saying it showed off my face easier when it was short. I guess I've been kind of trying to hide."

Her lips turned down in a frown, her hands brushing it back. She looked at him seriously. "You have _nothing_ to hide."

His smile broadened and he leaned into her gentle touch, nuzzling her hand a little.

Taking in a quick breath, she had a craving to raise her other hand to his face and pull it to hers. But she knew that would only complicate things. She needed to get out of there and clear her head.

"I should really get going." she told him, reluctantly untangling herself from his arms and standing up. She hadn't realized how uncomfortable she had been. A brick building and pavement wasn't exactly comfortable but with Toby holding her it seemed like the best place on earth.

Toby stood too, grabbing her wrist before she could leave. "Spencer… thank you. I know you think you have damaged my life, but despite all of the hell in the past couple years, you're what has made it worth living. Don't ever think of yourself as a poison. You're my guiding light."

Spencer's eyes spilled tears before she was even aware she was crying and she quickly moved forward to pull him into a tight hug. Now that it had been a few weeks, his wounds were healed, so he didn't mind. He let his fingers run through her hair soothingly, pressing a tender kiss to her temple.

Kissing him now would only be easier and better suited, but Spencer's brain was winning the battle this time. She knew better.

Unable to think of a proper response to his words, Spencer squeezed his hands and smiled, taking an alternative route.

"I know things have been rocky between us the past while, but I want you to know that that's over. You can count on me. I'll be here, any time you need me. I promise."

He nodded, smiling now too. "Right back at you. Be safe, Spence."

Three words and she could feel her heart pounding in her chest. The tenderness in which he said her nickname always made her heart flutter.

With a final goodbye, Spencer left the alleyway and wondered how on earth she was going to stop thinking about the way it felt to be in his arms again.

* * *

After departing ways with Toby, Spencer showered and headed downstairs in sweats to study for midterms. They were quickly approaching and she had been so distracted trying to solve the murder of her best friend and untangle the mess her life had become that she hadn't been as on top of things as she would like.

Hoping to change that, Spencer grabbed her highlighter and textbook and settled in front of the warm fire on the chaise lounge.

She began yellow-staining the important phrases that she read, but her mind quickly got distracted from thoughts of earlier and the amount of clutter in the living room.

What if there was a clue about Ali's murder in one of these boxes? It was her only chance to find it since they all would soon be moved to Philly with Ian and Melissa.

Spencer slipped off the backless couch and tiptoed over, despite the fact that she was the only one home. Her parents were at some dinner party and Melissa and Ian were out shopping for their new place.

She finally worked up the nerve to peel back the tape on one box when the front door opened.

Spencer raced back to her spot, acting as if she hadn't moved in a while, and Melissa entered the kitchen.

"Hey." the younger sister greeted casually.

"Ready for midterms?" Melissa asked as she set the overflow of bags onto the island.

"Not yet."

"Maybe you can take a break tomorrow night? Ian and I are treating Mom and Dad to dinner. I'd like if you came."

She would? Wow, this getting along thing was weird.

"Um, yeah, I'll try, but…" She stopped when she heard a thump, chuckling as she got up. "Do you need help?"

She picked up a fallen paper bag from the pharmacy and a box fell out. Reading the label, Spencer's mouth fell open.

"Oh." Was the only response Melissa could seem to come up with.

"An ovulation kit?" Spencer asked, unsure what this meant.

"You weren't supposed to see that." her older sister said by way of explanation.

"But I did." Spencer reminded her.

"Can you keep a secret?"

"Of course!"

"I mean it. This is not something I'm prepared to tell Mom and Dad."

Spencer dialed it down a notch. "Okay."

"I'm trying to get pregnant."

Spencer was sure her face was a picture, but she couldn't stop the distortion. "With Ian?"

"Of course." Melissa said, unable to understand why she would be surprised by that when she was married to the guy.

"Why the rush?" Spencer stammered, feeling panicked. A spawn of a murderer as a niece or nephew? No thanks. Their family was screwed up enough.

"We want a big family and I don't wanna be a grandma when my kids are in high school." Melissa explained as she continued to unpack the shopping bags.

"I've never _once _heard you say you want a big family." Spencer reminded her.

"Well, we've never talked about it, have we?"

True enough, but still. You'd think it would come up at some point over, you know, Spencer's entire existence.

"What about Wharton? You've worked so hard to get in." Spencer had to ask.

"I'll get my MBA, but I don't feel like I need to be the best and the first anymore. All those things that used to matter just don't seem that important."

Spencer couldn't believe the words coming out of her sister. She was like a completely different person. "Those things were everything to you.

"I don't expect you to understand. When I was your age, I wanted everything you want."

She was sixteen a few_ years_ ago so her statement didn't hold up. "You wanted those things last _week_."

"I'm happy, Spencer. I really am." Melissa told her.

Spencer realized she had to stop pushing so much. Maybe Melissa really was. And if she kept raining on her parade, they'd be right back to where they were before, at each other's throats all the time.

"Okay."

Melissa smiled in triumph and went back to work.

Spencer couldn't help herself from asking one more question about it all. "So getting pregnant is your idea? Not Ian's."

"Yes. Don't you love the thought of a mini-me or a mini-Ian running around?" Melissa asked enthusiastically, looking excited.

"Not really." Spencer admitted before she could stop herself.

Melissa looked annoyed, but Ian suddenly interrupted.

"Melissa. I thought this was something we were going to keep private."

Oh no, he sounded pissed.

"I know, but I—"

"I looked in the bag before she could even stop me." Spencer cut in. The last thing she'd want is for Ian to get upset with Melissa. She already had a dead best friend; she did not need a dead sister too. Melissa seemed pleased with her defending her too, so it was sort of a win-win. "I promise, I won't tell anyone."

"Trust me, Spencer can keep a secret." Melissa said confidently.

Ian's eyes didn't stray from Spencer's. "Yeah, I know she can."

Spencer felt a chill run up her spine. Either he was referring to their forbidden shared kiss last summer, or he was subtly threatening her that she needed to keep her mouth shut in regards to him as a murder suspect.

* * *

Things at school the next day got kind of crazy.

Hanna was the first person Spencer had seen so she had explained about Melissa trying to get pregnant. Hanna, too, was surprised by the news but didn't seem as convinced that Ian was manipulating her into it since she claimed Melissa was a badass and wouldn't give in to that sort of thing.

Their conversation had been interrupted by an upset Emily. She had told them that Maya was being sent to juvie camp for three months, thanks to her interfering mother, and that she hadn't even got to say goodbye.

And if that wasn't enough, Noel Kahn had been caught with stolen midterm answers in his locker. A had texted them that '_A was for Alison not Amateur_' and they knew then for sure that they had been wrong to think he was A.

Aria had revealed to Hanna and Spencer that Ezra had been planning on resigning before Noel could reveal to the principal that he and she were engaging in an illegal relationship. Thanks to A's stunt, the principal wouldn't believe a word out of his mouth since Noel was still trying to convince him that he had been set up.

"I still can't believe A did that." Hanna said as they crossed the lawn from Spencer's to Alison's old house.

"Well at least we know now it isn't Noel… which puts us back at square one." Spencer finished disappointedly. The process of elimination was a very slow one indeed.

"Are you sure Maya's parents are out?" Aria asked as they lugged the giant ladder over to the side of the house and began setting it up.

"Yes, okay? It's just her grandmother home and she's mostly deaf. She'll probably be asleep in front of the TV watching soap operas again." Spencer commented and the other two looked at her inquisitively. "Come on, my parents can't even help themselves from peeking in at the new neighbours. They're upper class people—gossiping is in their blood. I hear things."

"Who's going up there?" Aria asked timidly, finally noticing how far up it really was.

"Not me. I only just got off crutches." Hanna argued.

Spencer rolled her eyes. "I'll go. Hold the ladder steady. Let's hope she's in her room."

She made the climb, chanting in her head not to look down. She wasn't the best with heights but as long as she didn't look at the distance between her and the ground and start unintentionally calculating physics mathematics she'd be fine.

Maya was sitting cross-legged on the floor, suitcases open and mostly packed. She was gazing at some strip of pictures. Spencer remembered that she and Emily had checked out a photo booth at Noel's party a few weeks previous. Those pictures were probably of the pair of them.

Spencer knocked lightly and Maya jumped in surprise before looking to see her. Spencer waved with a big smile as Maya rushed over.

"What are you doing?!" the darker-skinned girl asked in bewilderment.

"Rescuing you. Emily's coming over to my place soon and she'll be here in about twenty minutes. Do you think you can sneak out for less than an hour so you guys can get your proper goodbye? She's a mess, Maya."

Maya's eyes glossed over with tears and she nodded vigorously. "Of course I can. I don't even care if my parents catch me. It's worth it if I can see her."

"Let's go. And watch your step."

The two girls made their way safely down the ladder and headed into the Hastings house.

"We'll give you guys some privacy. We can set you up in my room. My family's leaving soon to go out for dinner so you don't have to worry about anyone coming home and ruining the moment." Spencer said as she led Maya upstairs.

Hanna and Aria carried up dozens of candles and helped set up a romantic atmosphere for the couple.

Spencer's phone beeped and she checked the message.

"Okay, Emily's on her way. The stereo's there. We'll let you light the last of the candles and we'll be downstairs if you need anything, but we'll let you surprise Emily." Spencer told her.

"Thank you guys so much. No one's ever done anything like this for me before." Maya said with a watery smile.

Spencer squeezed her hand. "You're a pretty awesome person and you make our best friend happier than we've ever seen her. Trust me, it was our pleasure."

After wishing her luck, they left Maya to finish up while they set up books to pretend they had been studying hard for midterms.

Aria got a text when they sat at the island and smiled.

"I'm guessing that's not from A?" Hanna asked.

"Ezra." she said, an impish smile on her face, and Spencer and Hanna rolled their eyes. With Noel's inability to expose them now, Aria and Ezra were safe. They were happy for her, but they also hoped she'd get a reality check to how dangerous what she was doing was. They got away with it this time, but would they next time?

"Don't get too happy. You know A only gives so she can take." Spencer said darkly.

"I don't know who I'm more afraid of… A the bitch who tried to flatten Hanna, or A our new frenemy." Aria commented.

After a moment, her face broke out into a smile again.

"What?" Hanna demanded.

"A… saved my relationship." she gushed.

Hanna wasn't as enthusiastic about the masked vigilante. "Yeah, well, A tried to kill me."

"Because A thought you saw her. A clearly knows now that you didn't." Spencer reminded her.

The back door suddenly opened and Spencer immediately began rambling off Trigonometry to the other two as if they had been talking about it this whole time. "So the uh, law of cosines is an extension of the Pythagorean theorem to the arbitrary angles around the outside of a triangle—"

"Uh, English, please." Hanna interjected.

Melissa smiled as she entered the kitchen. "It's nice to see the posse together again."

Aria let out a small laugh. "The _posse_?"

"This is me playing nice, Aria. Spencer and I have called a truce." she explained, casting an affectionate look at Spencer who faked a smile in response.

"Oh, well, I'll play along. How does it feel to be married?" Hanna asked her.

"It feels like… I don't have to try so hard all the time. Like things are settled." Melissa said enthusiastically.

Hanna wasn't playing as nice as she pretended she was. "Yeah. That's how my mom felt before my dad met Isabel."

Melissa chuckled. "One thing I don't have to worry about is Ian looking at other women."

"You ready, wife?" Ian said as he too entered the house.

"I am, my handsome husband." she replied cornily as she linked an arm with him.

Ugh. Spencer felt a bit of her dinner crawl back up her throat at their cutesy behaviour. "Bye."

Emily came in through the side door shortly after Ian and Melissa disappeared.

The three girls grinned brightly at her in excitement.

"What?"

Spencer hopped off her stool and grabbed her wrist to lead her away. "There is something that I need to show you… in my room."

"No, wait, I think she should find it herself." Aria piped up from her spot.

Emily looked confused as ever.

"I agree, but first." Hanna said, unbuttoning a few buttons on Emily's jean jacket and tousling her hair a little. "There. Now you can go."

Emily was amused but clearly lost.

"Go. Go!" they repeated when she still didn't move at an appropriate pace.

Once she began her route upstairs, the three of them giggled together and high-fived. She definitely would thank them later.

"Are you sure Ian and Melissa are gone?" Aria asked.

Spencer moved the blinds to check the driveway. "Car's gone. Let's do this."

She grabbed the tape gun and a cutting tool and headed towards Ian's boxes. They were going to search for some clues that he may have been hiding in there.

It actually ended up being kind of fun snooping on Ian's things. He had some pretty random things in there.

Spencer held up a pair of binoculars, laughing. "You guys, look. Really? For spying?" she teased. She couldn't exactly see Ian as the bird watching type.

Their giggling was overpowered by similar sounds a floor above.

They all looked up towards the ceiling dreamily, glad that Emily and Maya were having such a wonderful time.

"You know, I am officially jealous of Emily's love life." Hanna said with a grin.

Hanna had Sean Ackard, but Spencer had a feeling lately that she was outgrowing him. She sort of hoped she would. She knew Hanna deserved something more. Sean was kind of…bland. And Hanna was a firecracker of energy and wit.

They continued on their search and were running out of boxes. On the last one, it was just full of graphic novels.

"We've got comic books, more comic books, and more comic books. Evidence of geekdom but not crime." Hanna said irritably.

They sealed up the last box just as Maya and Emily came down the stairs.

"Hey, thank you guys so much." Maya said, her eyes still full of tears. "Thank you." she added to Spencer seeing as it was her house, her ladder and her idea.

"Of course." Spencer said, returning her hug.

Maya hugged the rest of the girls too.

"You'll be back soon." Aria told her with a smile.

Emily and Maya shared one last kiss goodbye at the door before Maya slipped away into the night.

Emily collapsed blissfully onto the couch. "I don't even know how to thank you guys. Tonight was the best gift anyone could ever have given me."

"Where are they sending her?" Spencer asked, realizing she didn't even know.

"Uh, some place called True North?" Emily replied, obviously not familiar with the name.

"Seriously?"

Emily looked alarmed. "Is it bad?"

Hanna continued amusedly. "They sent Betsey Burger there for huffing spray paint—she came back as a drummer in a gospel band."

"Maya is an amazing person, Em. She's going to be fine." Aria told her reassuringly.

"Yeah. Did you guys find anything?" Emily asked, needing a subject change.

"We've looked through every box and found a big fat nothing."

Aria's phone suddenly went off again. But she didn't smile like earlier when it had been her boyfriend. Her eyes went wide. "_Don't say I never gave you anything. Turn on your computer. –A._"

Spencer bolted to the kitchen island where her laptop was resting. She booted it up and found a video clip waiting for them in her mail.

It started playing and it was Alison sitting on the Kissing Rock again, flirting with whoever was behind the camera.

"This is the video Cooper showed us." Emily said confusedly.

Why would A send this to them? Did they not realize they had already seen it?

But where the video normally stopped, it continued. Alison stood with her coy smile and spun the camera to reveal the camera man.

It was Ian.

They all gasped.

"Oh my god!" Spencer couldn't help but exclaim.

"_Come closer._" he said.

The camera fell to the ground and they suddenly heard heavy breathing, muffled groaning and Alison's hand slammed down on the ground in visibility of the camera.

Her hand suddenly gripped the dirt and they all gasped again in surprise. But then it relaxed and they all stood in shock, wondering if they just witnessed the sound of their best friend being murdered.

A noise from outside caught their attention.

Was that A?

"Let's go!" Spencer shouted and they all ran outside to chase them down. Enough was enough. This person knew so much about Ali and her death. They were probably framing Toby for the murder and she was sick of jumping every damn time her phone buzzed.

They had seen glimpses of a figure in a black hoodie, but the further they got into the foggy woods the less they could see of anything.

"Do you see anything?" Spencer asked.

"That bitch is fast." Emily said, shaking her head.

They were gone.

"Let's go back." Hanna suggested and the four of them headed back to Spencer's house, wondering if they'd ever catch A or if they'd have to live with these little bits and pieces being sent to them every other day from now on.


	25. Chapter 25

_I made the executive decision to summarize over episodes 14 and 15 to get to the Spoby ;) There just wasn't a lot of options to squeeze in scenes of them while still honouring their storyline the way I wanted to. So I hope that doesn't bother anybody!_

_Thank you for all the feedback. Love you guys! Enjoy!_

**I do not own Pretty Little Liars.**

* * *

Spencer headed upstairs in Emily's house, her mind traveling back to the last few days.

Things had gotten pretty crazy.

After finding out that Ian was the cameraman of that video the night Alison died, and seeing that clip of her hand becoming still after a scuffle, the girls were convinced more than ever that he was the murderer. No matter how many times they re-watched it they couldn't seem to find an alternate explanation.

They didn't want to mess around this time. They planned on taking Spencer's laptop, with the video on it, to the police during lunch at school the next day.

Unfortunately, Ian had interrupted their discussion the night before and, although they had thought they were safe at the time, when Spencer pulled out a yearbook at lunch instead of her laptop in the courtyard, they realized he must have switched them out. The only time Spencer didn't have her bag plastered to her side was during PE and the only one who had that combo besides her would be the coaches and he was the field hockey coach which solved that.

They made a plan to steal it back during the dance marathon the school was throwing to raise money for the class trip.

Meanwhile, a new techy bad boy named Caleb moved to town and Emily had paid him to fix up her phone so she could call Maya. Maya was at True North now and was only allowed calls from her parents. But when Emily spoke with her on the phone during the dance, there was something off about her and Emily told Spencer that she figured Maya had moved on. She was distant and changed. And Emily decided to sneak Hanna's flask at the dance and drown her sorrows.

The only problem with that is that the liquid courage made her approach Ian with a commanding 'I know what you did' which put him right on their trail again.

Aria, on the other hand, had a visit from her old babysitter Simone. Aria's mom had brought her to school to speak with her English class and then got Ezra to have her present her 'life after Rosewood' speech. Ever since, she and Ezra had been spending time together and Aria's jealousy hit an all time high when Simone showed up at the dance to hang out with him again. Aria charged over, ready to blow her secret relationship's cover, but Spencer intervened and dragged Ezra away for a dance, which was majorly awkward for her since Ezra had no idea she knew about him and Aria and probably thought she had a crush on him now.

Before Emily had blown things with her drunken slur and overconfident confrontation, Spencer had broken into Ian's office and tried to steal her laptop back. Caleb caught her, but for some reason didn't bust her for it.

Hanna had been dancing with Lucas for the last hour and when she and Spencer left to take Emily out of there, he looked pretty disappointed. Spencer didn't know what was going on there, but Hanna later revealed she and Sean broke up. It was obvious that Lucas had feelings for her though, but Spencer had a feeling she was feeling guilty enough for how the night ended with Lucas and she didn't push it.

After putting Emily to bed, Spencer's laptop showed up on the coffee table and they found the video was gone. But a new picture appeared—a shot of Alison walking in Spencer's yard in the yellow top with a shadow following behind her with the caption 'Watch your backs. I didn't. –A'.

Aria came over after her conversation with Fitz and the girls stayed over. Spencer was grateful because she didn't want to be home alone when Ian got back, not with her parents out of town and Melissa in Philly with her business school friends.

Aria deduced that the picture must have been taken from Alison's house and assumed it must have been Jason. Spencer immediately volunteered to speak with him and Jason dismissed the picture claiming it was probably photoshopped. He said he would pass it over to their private investigator to ease her mind.

But Spencer wanted to know who had taken it because she knew who the shadow was. It had been her. It must have been taken when Spencer was chasing after her after their fight, before their apology.

Before she left, Jason apologized for the way he had acted during the memorial. He admitted doing that had been the hardest thing he had ever had to do.

With all that was going on, Spencer had almost forgotten to give Aria the Basia Museum tickets for the new exhibit that her dad wasn't going to use so Aria and Ezra could have a romantic date out of town. They had always been forced to stay inside seeing as they weren't supposed to associate outside of class.

When Spencer did give it to her at school, Aria looked like she was going to kiss her she was so excited, which is why she was so surprised when later on Aria was not as enthusiastic to talk about it until she got some prompting. Spencer had a feeling she and Hanna were having some sort of fight since Hanna didn't come join them for lunch and Aria didn't seem to mind one bit.

Emily admitted during their lunch that Paige McCullers, a competitive swimmer and field hockey player, had made a jab at her being gay earlier since she and Emily were competing to see who would be anchor for the big meet. Emily was an amazing swimmer, but Paige wanted to be the best, so it was a stiff competition. Paige also wanted to be team captain and had passed out 'Go Sharks!' bracelets which matched the name bracelets they all had.

With this new information, Spencer went to investigate the bead shop they came from in an old lady's house to see if they could find out who made the Alison and Jenna bracelets they had found in the woods. And if they found out that, maybe it would reveal who A was.

Arriving home after school, Jason was in her house and admitted that the picture was real but he didn't know if he had taken it. He had been high the entire summer and it was all a blur. He admitted that one of the guys he partied with all summer had been Ian.

Emily agreed to go with Spencer to the bead shop since Hanna had detention for skipping PE for the third time in a row. Spencer asked her if Paige was kicked off the team for what she said, but Emily became extremely defensive and was upset that Spencer had told the coach about the comment Paige made when she could stand up for herself. Spencer made the mistake of saying she never had with Alison and Emily left with a lame excuse, clearly too upset with her to stick around.

Alone and feeling pretty dejected, Spencer hoped the bead shop would have the answers they needed and she could mend everything with some good news. But the receipt of those Jenna and Alison bracelets were written under the name Spencer Hastings, and Spencer knew that this A wasn't messing around. The picture and now this?

She was next.

Spencer called the girls over and told them the truth, that the picture was of her behind Alison and that she had never told them because a part of her wondered if it was her fault since she had wished it in the heat of the moment and then it came true.

The girls reminded her that she hadn't meant it and she let it go. At least she had taken it back with Alison after that.

"My chemistry book over there?" Emily asked Spencer, jerking her out of her memories of the past week.

"Uh… I don't see it." she replied automatically, her eyes glued to the shattered mailbox in front of Toby's house. How had she not noticed that when she arrived at Emily's?

Emily looked over in amusement. "It's probably in the room, Spence. Not the front yard."

"What happened to the Cavanaughs mailbox? Did someone hit it?" Spencer asked in confusion.

"It's not the first time. And I'm sure it wasn't an accident. Every time I come home, Toby's out there cleaning up some new mess. Hasn't he mentioned it to you?"

Spencer chose not to answer that and thankfully spotted a book peeking out from under her chair. "Is that it?"

"Oh. Thanks." Emily grabbed it and put it in her bag.

Movement caught Spencer's eye and she spotted Toby coming out of his house to start gathering the splinters and mail. She turned away from the window to face Emily.

Emily caught her change in behavior and eyed her funny. "Are you avoiding him?"

"We just… haven't properly talked since our kiss."

Emily sent her a look.

"Okay, fine! I'm avoiding him!" Spencer said exasperatedly.

Emily was more amused than anything, chuckling at her friend.

"Look, things are just… really confusing right now. I don't really know what's going on with his feelings or mine and with Alex out of the picture now… I just feel like it might make things worse if we speak about all of that too soon."

She hadn't told anyone about her and Toby's interaction in the alley last week. It was just too personal a moment to share. She felt bad enough that she had intruded on his private breakdown so sharing it with others would only make it that much worse. And the way they had held each other like they used to... she wasn't sure she was ready to share that either. It may not have been something as monumental as sex or a kiss, but it _had_ shifted something.

"Plus I said I'd try to help prove his innocence… but now I feel like A is trying to make sure I don't do that by making me the newest target."

"Are you talking about the bracelets?"

"I had NEVER seen that bead lady before and she had my name written down on two different sales receipts. If the evidence keeps going that way, I'm going to end up doing what he did for me… saving him but ruining my life. And this time it won't be a year of reform school. It'll be a lot worse."

Emily seemed to understand her predicament but didn't know how to make it better. "We should go. We're going to be late."

Spencer nodded and gazed back at the window after Emily left the room. Toby's eyes, as if sensing her stare, rose to meet hers and she quickly followed Emily downstairs.

* * *

After studying in the library for a bit during study hall, where Hanna mostly fanned herself with a magazine before leaving mysteriously to 'search for her lipgloss', Spencer and Emily headed to their lockers to exchange their books for Algebra.

"What is the point of a swim-off? Why would the coach pit you against each other before a meet?" Spencer asked Emily after her friend admitted that the coach still hadn't chosen anchor yet.

"She's using our combined times to choose anchor and right now we're tied." Emily explained.

"Well you'll change that." Spencer replied.

"Maybe not. She wants it more."

"_You_ want it more. And it's okay to admit that."

Emily was competitive too, but it was more she had personal goals than wanting to beat others. Emily may be too nice to admit it, but Spencer wasn't.

Spencer suddenly noticed a sheet next to the lockers.

_Peer tutor wanted in French 3 for home schooled student. If interested, please call 555-0116._

The phone number was listed roughly a dozen times for interested candidates to rip off the bottom.

"You know who that's for, don't you?" Emily said, seeing her distraction.

"Toby?"

Emily nodded.

He was the only home-schooled person she knew. He wasn't allowed in school for obvious reasons so he was continuing learning there.

Spencer tore off one of the phone numbers.

"What are you doing?"

"I might be interested." Spencer said, looking at the number in her hands. It must be his home phone number. She still knew his cell phone number off by heart even though she hadn't called it in over a year. She could still see it in her mind's eye from when he first texted her and told her she was a good kisser.

"Spencer, don't. You can't."

"Why not?"

"Because you'd be going there for the wrong reason. Did you not just say this morning that things are too confusing between you guys right now? You'll just be sending him mixed signals, Spence, and that's not fair to either of you."

"Really? Well what if the same person who gave my name to the bead lady is the one who framed Toby? What if that was A?"

"Can't you find that out some other way, without asking him? If you really want the space, I think you need to take it."

"Maybe, but if I have one piece of the puzzle and he has the other then we can put it together and maybe help each other. Who else knows what he knows, Emily?"

Emily didn't have an answer to that and Spencer tore down the entire poster. There was no way she was risking Toby getting an offer from someone else.

* * *

She called to set up their first tutoring session and spoke with a representative from the school. They were thrilled to get such a quick response and from someone doing so well in the class so the meeting was set for after school. Spencer needed answers as quickly as possible so she agreed, even though it meant she'd have to skip out on field hockey practice.

Since it was Ian who coached the team, this was even more of a bonus.

She knocked on his office door after school. Practice started at four and she knew her manners. It was only fair she warn him ahead of time.

He looked up from his reading.

"Hey. You're a little early."

"I just wanted to tell you I'm not coming to practice today." Spencer explained, hovering in the doorway.

"Why not?"

"I have another commitment." she said vaguely.

"You know, why don't you come in? Close the door."

Um, no thanks. Being alone in a room with Ian? "I can't stay, I—"

"No, come in."

Spencer acquiesced since it sounded as though he was losing his patience with her. She didn't exactly want to inspire him to attack her.

Ian closed the door. "You know, what are you trying to pull here, Spencer? You gonna tell your parents you can't stand to be on the same field with me so you're quitting the team?"

What a drama queen! It was ONE practice. He was so paranoid, although she had a feeling she knew why.

"I'm not quitting the team; I just have this other thing."

"You know, you can't avoid me. I live in your backyard."

Hard to forget that one.

"Well this isn't about you. I'm too concentrated in athletics and it doesn't look good on my college applications so I just need to balance out my schedule…" she trailed off when she saw Melissa outside the door.

"Knock, knock." Melissa teased as she came inside.

"Hey."

"Sorry to interrupt." she added when she saw how quiet and tense the room suddenly was.

Ian avoided replying to that. "I thought you had a marketing seminar."

"The professor cancelled. I brought the tile samples. The contractor needs a decision." she explained, passing over the things in her hands.

"Oh, great."

Well, that was enough Ian/Melissa time for Spencer for one day.

"Bye." she murmured as she passed them.

"Yeah, I think your sister is quitting the team." Ian said loudly, causing Spencer to halt.

What a tattletale.

"Why?"

"I'm not quitting the team. I'm just doing some tutoring."

Ian looked suddenly intrigued. She hadn't given him as much information before. "Well anyone in particular?"

Spencer straightened up, feeling a little smugger, knowing the name would rile up something in him. "Toby Cavanaugh."

"What?" Melissa and Ian exclaimed in unison.

"I signed up to help him with his French." Spencer continued.

"I can't believe the school would let anyone near him, especially alone!" Melissa said, looking to Ian for agreement.

"Why are you doing this?" Ian asked, and it sounded as though he was asking something more than the obvious.

"I already told you." Spencer said firmly, making sure he knew two could play at the double-entendre game.

"What is this really about? That guy murdered one of your best friends!" Melissa told her.

"Don't tell me you're falling for that silent martyr crap. You can't believe a thing that creep says." Ian warned.

"Well Toby Cavanaugh hasn't cornered the market on lying." Spencer said pointedly. "I've got to go."

And with that she left the newlyweds alone to argue over tile samples and possibly plan how they were going to take her down.

* * *

Spencer hadn't spent a lot of time at Toby's house. When they were dating, they usually went out or were at her place since her parents and Melissa were always gone out.

Walking the few steps up to his house now was nerve-wracking. The last time she had been here, she had kissed him. She wasn't here now to try that again. She really needed answers. And truth be told, she liked the idea of helping him with his French. It was the least she could do after the hell he had been put through because of her.

Inhaling, she knocked briskly on the door with as much courage as she could muster.

Toby's blue eyes were the only thing she could see when he opened up the door a smidge, the chain lock preventing it from going further.

His eyes widened at the sight of her.

Spencer handed over the mail. "Hi… I noticed this was on the ground as I was walking up…"

He accepted it and closed the door.

She thought he was going to just leave, but she heard the scraping of the chain lock and he leaned against the doorframe now, still only opening the door a little.

"Why are you here?"

"I'm here to tutor you. Someone from the school called to tell you, didn't they?" she asked, adjusting the strap on her shoulder.

He seemed surprised. "They only called to say someone had agreed to do it and would be here after school. Why you?"

She sent him a look. "Because I'm in AP French… and I volunteered." she added honestly. His eyebrows raised but she chose not to comment and instead got right to business. "Look, I have all your assignments together and I worked a schedule for the rest of the semester. If we meet for three times a week we can-"

Toby looked behind him suddenly and slipped out of the door, shutting it softly behind him. "You… you can't come in. Jenna's home."

He looked apologetic for the fact that he couldn't invite her inside, but Spencer knew that he was right. If Jenna knew she was spending time with Toby again, she would freak. After all, Jenna had told her to stay away from him.

"Okay… well is there somewhere else we can go?" she suggested.

"I can't…" He looked down to the house arrest monitor strapped to his ankle. "I can't go somewhere else."

Spencer felt like an idiot. Way to rub it in.

"Well will Jenna mind if we sit out here on the porch?" she asked, and he knew she was asking more can-we-get-away-with-it than if Jenna would mind.

He shrugged and followed her to sit on the stairs.

As they sat down, Spencer could feel the tension between them. It wasn't that they were in a bad place anymore—it was that they were both still lost on what they were. Were they friends? Acquaintances? Just exes? She didn't really know where they stood. But she did know they were both lost in the memories of what happened the last time they sat on those stairs and the tender moments they shared in the alley last week.

Spencer pulled out a book from her backpack, needing a distraction and to keep things on track. "I brought you something."

He accepted it, reading the cover. "L'Attrape Couers… the Heart Catcher?" he attempted to translate.

"It's _The Catcher in the Rye_. I guess there's no literal translation. But it helps to read a book that you already know in English." she explained.

He looked at her in surprise.

"How do you know I've read it?" he asked. On their first get-together, and many afterwards, their love of books and reading came up. He hadn't read it back then, but Spencer had been adamant that he add it to his library. He had only picked it up after he got out of reform school.

"I saw you once… At the Apple Rose Grille, you were reading it." she said awkwardly, looking away.

He knew instantly what time she would've seen him do so. It was the time Emily stood him up. They had caught each others' gaze as he went to leave the grill and shared a pained memory of their first moments of friendship. He had been reading the book to pass the time.

"What are you doing here?" Toby asked, knowing something was up. Even after their nice conversation in the alley, he hadn't expected her to do something like this. Remembering the pain of that day in the grill really put him off of going down memory lane and he knew that Spencer wouldn't be putting herself through this same discomfort without some kind of reason.

Spencer tried to play dumb. "Mr. Kripke wants you to review the conditional tense and the-"

"What do you _want_?" he asked more pointedly, and she gave in.

"What makes you think that I want something?"

"Because you never do anything without a reason."

"Did Emily tell you that?"

"Nobody had to tell me that." he said pointedly and she remembered how well he really did know her. She could be herself with Toby like she could with no other. Of course he would've picked up on that small piece of her personality.

"I think maybe the person who's framing you… is trying to do the same thing to me."

Toby looked down. "Damn it. I told you to stay away from me, Spencer."

She grabbed his hand. "Toby, you know I can't."

He met her eyes and felt they were having a much different conversation.

He sighed. "Why would someone go after you? What makes you so important?"

"I don't know." she told him honestly.

"Maybe you know something you're not supposed to know."

"Well every time I think I know something, I get the rug pulled out from under me and I end up on my ass." she replied.

He chuckled. "C'est dommage." he teased. _It's too bad._

Spencer grinned. "C'est la guerre…" _It's war._

She grew somber and placed her hand on his knee. It was about time she owned up to what she should have said long ago. Seeing him again, being so sweet with her even when she hadn't been there when he needed her most, made it all the more clear. "Toby, I'm sorry. For what I said about you. And what I thought."

He swallowed, but didn't verbally respond.

"I know there was a lot working against me, Spence. Some of the things I said to you… and things I did… well I can see why you couldn't trust me. I didn't give you a lot of reasons to."

"I should have believed you. I knew who you were. I just let Alison and insecurities and other people get into my head. I was stupid."

"Spencer, the last person on earth that can call themselves stupid is you." he argued.

She felt herself blushing and decided it would be a good time to get back on track.

"The sweater with Alison's blood… you said you gave it to her that night?" Spencer murmured, not wanting to be overheard.

"I did."

"And then she got into a car…?"

"With some guy. I couldn't see who it was. I'm not supposed to talk about this." he told her seriously. It's not that he didn't trust her—it's that if Jenna found out or anyone overheard, his case could go to hell. If Jenna found out that he was confiding in Spencer about it? She'd seal him in the cell herself to keep them apart.

"Do you have any idea how that sweater could have gotten back into your house?" she asked. That was the real question. Alison's blood being on the sweater she had worn the night of her murder wasn't the question—it was how it got back into Toby's possession. It may have been his sweater, but he hadn't seen her after he gave it to her. So who had it? A? Ali's killer? Both?

One of the windows on the front of the house slammed shut suddenly.

Toby immediately leapt to his feet. Jenna must have heard them. Oh, this was bad. And if she was involved in this somehow like he figured she might be, and Spencer was next on the list to be framed, he knew this could only reflect badly on her.

He had to get in there and do damage control.

"Uh… I've got to go. Thanks. For the book." he added, his manners always pushing through even when he was panicked.

"Yeah, you're welcome." Spencer replied uneasily, standing up as he rushed inside.

She wasn't sure what just happened, but she had a feeling that she needed more answers now than she had before she arrived.

* * *

Spencer got a text from Emily asking for a study buddy and she had a feeling she wanted the gossip from her tutoring session with Toby rather than biology help.

But still, Spencer could use the company, especially after things flat-lined at the Cavanaugh residence.

"_What are your thoughts on genetic modification_?" Emily read out from the textbook.

"Aren't scientists playing god? And how will it affect human health in the long-term?" Spencer replied like a machine, lying on her back on Emily's bed as Emily worked away at her desk.

"So I'm against it." Emily concluded, scribbling down an answer.

"He's different."

"How?"

"I-I meant… he's different than I thought he would be… He's different than I remember. We're different."

Emily didn't seem to know how to reply to that, so after a pause, she continued down the page. "_How have humans altered the genomes of species for thousands of years_?"

"Through artificial selection." Spencer answered. "There's something about him that's… I don't know."

"Hmm a question that Spencer Hastings can't answer? How interesting." Emily teased.

Spencer sat up, propping herself up on her elbows. "It's not THAT interesting…" she dismissed. "Am I finished with _your_ homework?"

"You are. Thank you." Emily said, teasing at first but then sincere.

"I keep trying to find a connection."

"To Toby?" Emily asked. She was pretty sure they had an unbreakable connection at this point. The way Toby had talked to Emily before Mona's party and the way Spencer spoke of him these days… there was no way they didn't have a connection.

"To Alison and Toby. Me and Toby. We're pretty sure he didn't do it, right? And yet somebody found a way to make him look extremely guilty."

Ah so she was speaking purely of the murder case.

"Spence, you can't figure all that out sitting on his porch, conjugating verbs."

"Well you don't know what those verbs are." she teased. She couldn't help but remember their solitary French exchange and felt butterflies fill her stomach at the smile that was on his face.

"If he didn't tell you the first time, he probably can't. Are you sure he even wants you to come back?"

Spencer contemplated it as she got up to leave. "Yeah… I think he _does_."

She sounded just as surprised by the words coming out of her mouth. Was there really a chance for her and Toby to mend what they had? It was certainly starting to feel that way.

* * *

The next day started going downhill pretty fast.

It was finally the big swim meet and Emily had won being anchor by default. Paige had gotten into a bike accident the night before and was a little scratched up so she wouldn't be swimming. For some reason, when Emily told them this, she looked incredibly guilty but Spencer figured it was just because they had been competing and then this happened. Almost as if she had wished it to be true.

Despite the day before's altercation with Melissa and Ian over tutoring Toby, Melissa had approached Spencer with a 'truce' button.

Of course, that lasted about five minutes, since they got into another fight over Ian. Melissa claimed she was the one who proposed, who wanted to elope, and that Spencer needed to stop all of her brother-in-law bashing.

But Spencer was persistent. She told Melissa to ask Ian about what happened the summer Alison was killed. Before Melissa could give her the tongue-lashing she had signed herself up for, Ian come over to interrupt and the fight awkwardly broke apart.

Spencer joined her friends at the swim meet, where, oddly, Hanna and Caleb were acting like friends. He sat with the three of them before leaving to go talk to Bridget Wu, who was drinking from her purse.

Aria was the one to ask what was up with that, but Hanna shut her down quickly and defended Caleb. She and Spencer shared a look—they knew that when Hanna started getting defensive like that that it probably meant the obvious. She was starting to develop a crush on the guy. After her break-up with Sean-the-bland-blonde, who could really blame her for wanting something different.

After the meet, where Emily managed to get them a win, Spencer decided to take the long way home to avoid Ian and Melissa.

On her way, she got a text from Toby.

_Come over. Can't explain. Have something for you. Please hurry.  
_

She was almost stunned for a moment. She hadn't got a text from him in a long time. Had his parents given him back his phone?

Spencer didn't even get a chance to knock on his door when he was already slipping out of it. He seemed tense and paranoid, eyes shifting as he came out onto the porch.

"Hey."

"Hi. I got your message but I didn't totally understand…" she began, but he cut her off.

"This isn't going to work. Here. Take it back" he told her seriously, passing her back the French copy of The Catcher in the Rye.

She stared in surprise. What was happening? Things were going so good and now…?

"Toby… I came here because I thought that we could help each other." she told him gently, searching his eyes for some kind of hope.

"We can't. Just take it and go." he said, eyes widening as if trying to get her to understand something, but she was too disappointed to understand what kind of double-meaning he could possibly be referring to.

She took the book back and he rushed back inside. With a sigh, Spencer continued down the walkway.

So much for mending things.

* * *

Spencer took her time going home. She drove up to her and Toby's old spot and thought for a while. Was she stupid to believe that she and Toby could find their way back to each other one day?

It was obvious that there was something bigger going on. She had to believe that. After the things Toby had been saying lately, she knew that he wouldn't just cut her out of his life like that so suddenly. It was almost… almost like it was before. The contradicting exchanges. One day he's friendly and sweet, the next he's cold and not there.

Was it A? Was A stalking Toby too? Were they calling the shots? Or was it Jenna that was spooking him? Or maybe Jenna was A?

More and more questions circled around Spencer's head. She had no idea how to solve this murder or prevent herself from being framed without Toby's help. What could she really do now? She still had no real answers.

When the sky darkened as the sun hid from view, Spencer decided to head home. She hadn't really eaten dinner, but she didn't care. She'd get something at home or she'd just skip it tonight. She wasn't feeling very hungry anyways.

Melissa was digging in the fridge when Spencer entered the room. Guess that solved the finding food conundrum. She didn't need any extra time with Melissa after today's argument.

Unfortunately, her older sister looked up when she saw her.

Spencer kept walking. "Good night."

"Wait, Spencer. Can we talk? About earlier?"

"No. It's late and I'm tired." she replied coldly, not caring if she seemed rude but she had had enough crap for one day. This whole new thing with Toby was not helping her mood any.

As she made to walk upstairs, Melissa shouted after her. "I know about you and Ian. He told me everything. The kiss you two had when we were broken up, I can't hold that against you."

Spencer wasn't about to correct her and tell her that they were indeed still together when they kissed, or the fact that Ian wanted to date her after Melissa and he broke up, but she did stop walking. So she asked him about that summer?

"Did he tell you anything else about that summer?"

"Whatever it is that you're holding on to, it's got to stop." Melissa told her, apparently avoiding the question.

"I think he's dangerous." Spencer told her seriously.

"And I think you need help. You keep wanting what I have."

Okay. That was it. No more of this. Spencer walked back in the room, slamming the book on the counter and turning to her sister in irritation. "You know what, Melissa? It was—"

"No, Spencer, I don't want to fight. I realize I lost my temper earlier and I'm sorry. I've been a little hormonal lately and I guess I should tell you…"

Spencer was too pissed off to pick up on what she was leading up to. "Tell me what?" she snapped.

"We're pregnant." Melissa gushed, a huge smile crossing her face.

Spencer couldn't do anything but stare. Melissa was having Ian's baby?

"This is where you say congratulations." Melissa prompted.

Spencer was silent. There was no way Melissa would leave Ian now. And what about the child? Would it be born with murdering tendencies too?

The older Hastings rolled her eyes. "Good night, sis."

Spencer cast her eyes away, feeling a little ashamed since Melissa didn't understand her reasons and felt she was just unhappy that Melissa was happy, but she suddenly noticed one of the pages of the book was sticking out more than the other. Upon closer look, she realized it was a note stuck in there.

She pulled it out, her fingers almost trembling. It had to be from Toby, right?

_I found this in Jenna's room. You may be right - Toby_

On the paper, there was a rubbing off some braille. Toby snuck into the dragon's den for that? So he still was on her side!

Her excitement over Toby's alliance was short-lived as she stared at the note again. What did this mean? And why would those three little markings mean Spencer was right?


	26. Chapter 26

_Just want to take this time to apologize for my previous author note. To anyone it offended, I deeply apologize. I had never intended to seem rude or ungrateful. I love all of my reviewers, guest and those that have accounts, and I should never have been so demanding as to ask for more detailed reviews from anyone. I just wanted to bring it up because some people leave suggestions/questions when they are guest reviews and I can't answer except via author's note on the next chapter. But now I know that addressing anything like that to the public might bother some people. So I deleted the note and wanted to extend my apologies to the person who felt attacked and anyone else who had similar feelings. I really had written it sincerely and in what I thought was my readers best interest. I had meant no ill feelings at all and feel terrible that it came off as bashing anyone's reviewing technique or chastising anyone's reviews. I just wrote it because I can't honour suggestions I don't fully understand and I want to make sure all of you know that I DO value your opinions/suggestions and that if I can honour them or incooperate them, I will try. But my wording apparently didn't come off that way so I won't be doing that again. Sorry for that._

_This chapter showcases 117, but I got a little overenthusiastic about the original scenes so I'm pushing it into two chapters ;) Tons, tons, tons of Spoby fluff in this. And more to come next chapter, if you take advantage of that little review box at the bottom and let me know how you feel about it ;)  
_

**I do not own Pretty Little Liars.**

* * *

"Okay, so your sister's pregnant? How'd that happen?" Hanna asked as Spencer typed away on her laptop.

"I figure pretty much the usual way." she replied, rolling her eyes.

The three girls were over at Emily's trying to decode the message Toby had given to Spencer. Aria wasn't with them on the bed, instead choosing to look out the window and keep to herself. She had been oddly quiet since she arrived.

Spencer and Emily had no idea what was up with her but they had a feeling she and Hanna were still fighting.

"It's not really a 'how' question. It's more of a 'why' question." Emily interjected.

Spencer shrugged. "Well, I mean, I guess Melissa could have gotten all maternal but I doubt it."

"Ugh, this is so creepy."

"Where are they now?"

"Philadelphia. Shopping." the Hastings girl said with another roll of her eyes.

"What do you think this means?" Hanna asked as Spencer surfed the internet for an appropriate braille translation website.

"I don't know. But Toby wanted us to have it. There. It's in braille so…" Spencer dragged her notebook closer to copy down the translation.

"You want to see this, Aria?" Emily asked across the room.

"No. I can see just fine from here." Aria said pointedly, looking away when Hanna raised her eyes to meet her irritated ones.

"Okay. The first letter is B…" Spencer narrated, copying it down. She looked to the second letter. "A, it's an A…" She wrote that one down and tried to decode the last one. "D?"

Could that be right? Spencer read the word repeatedly, trying to find an alternative meaning.

"B-A-D…" Emily read aloud slowly.

"Bad." Hanna confirmed unhelpfully.

"That's the whole message? Bad?" Spencer said, unable to believe it.

"What's it supposed to mean?" Emily asked in confusion.

Aria finally piped up. "It means you got punk'd. Toby doesn't trust us. I don't blame him."

"No, I don't think he'd mess with us like this." Emily defended.

"You'd be surprised what people are capable of." Aria replied firmly and they knew it was another jab at Hanna. Tonight was full of them. The blonde looked down in shame.

"You guys, we have to figure this out. This might be a joke but it could be something real." Spencer diffused.

"You really think Toby would joke with you even now? Even after your kiss?"

Emily realized a beat too late that she was the only one who had been told of that exchange, despite the time that had passed since the actual event.

For the first time that night, Aria and Hanna were on the same side.

"After your WHAT?!" they shouted in unison.

Spencer blushed, trying to concentrate on her laptop. "Me and Toby sort of…kissed… the day of the storm."

"Wait, the day the SATs got cancelled!? And we're only finding out now, why?" Hanna demanded.

Spencer sighed. "Look, things have been really confusing lately with Toby. We were talking on his porch and things got kind of intense and I don't know… suddenly we were kissing."

Even as she said it, her voice changed. It became softer and more breathy. Just the memory of touching him so intimately again sent chills through her body.

The three other girls smirked, picking up on the change of tone.

"Have you guys talked about it?" Aria pressed.

"No. Our next encounter was… different. And then tutoring was mostly business. And now here we are."

"Well I think that confirms that Toby is not the enemy." Hanna piped up.

The others nodded in agreement. Spencer could only sigh. As good of news as that was, she really would've preferred a better answer to the message he had sent her.

* * *

At lunch the next day, Emily was apologizing to Spencer for her faux-pas the night before.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize you hadn't told the other two yet. I just forgot myself for a moment." Emily said with her brown eyes wide and puppy-dog-like.

Spencer dismissed it immediately. "I've just gotten so used to keeping secrets with this whole A business it's become a habit. I hadn't meant to keep it from them exactly; I just hoped I'd find out what was going on between us before now so I could have a better explanation. But I'm still almost as confused as before."

"Well I think what matters is that you guys are making progress. He's trusting you with this message and he's on our side. That says something."

"Yeah, if it isn't some kind of joke. He's so hot and cold it's driving me insane."

Emily squeezed her hand supportively.

Their eyes were suddenly distracted by the sight of their blonde best friend handing over some soggy article of clothing over to the techy bad boy who she had hung out with at the swim meet a few days previous. What was with them these days?

Aria approached the lunch table, Hanna soon joining too, and Spencer honed in on Hanna right away.

Hanna, of course, tried to be dismissive and deny everything, but they could there was something more brewing between the pair than just a business transaction.

Spencer was concerned though. They didn't really know much about Caleb. And with his dodgy tech business, he really wasn't winning many brownie points on the bring-home-to-your-parents meter.

Hanna denied his 'dark' cred, and, to Emily and Spencer's surprise, it was Aria who jumped in to join her defense, claiming that Caleb just had it tough.

It turned out they were on speaking terms again and all seemed to be forgiven. Thank goodness because the ice shards being tossed between her two friends lately had been really starting to worry her. She didn't want to have to choose sides or lose their strong group bond.

Emily laid down one final concerned warning about Caleb, but Hanna had countered with the fact that they had had a similar conversation about Toby once upon a time.

She did have a point, but Spencer had sighed. She really wished they could have one conversation that didn't bring up her ex-boyfriend.

Emily was saved from responding when a very angry Nick McCullers came storming into the cafeteria and headed straight for the table of English teachers, Aria's mom and boyfriend among them.

Paige's father began a rant about how the swim coach was avoiding him and denying his daughter the opportunity she deserved and giving it to someone else who didn't deserve it just because—

Well, he wasn't able to finish his sentence since Mr. Fitz had stepped in and diffused him immediately.

But everyone knew. Emily squirmed uncomfortably in her seat, knowing that her sexual orientation must have gotten around to the parents now too.

Spencer, although previously not exactly thrilled that Aria had gotten herself involved with a teacher, felt a rush of gratitude towards her friend's boyfriend. He clearly cared a lot about not just the school's reputation or that of the teacher's, but about his students as well. And it was quite clear that he did not have a problem with Emily being gay and wouldn't stand to listen to anyone else who did beat down on her for it.

After Ezra escorted Mr. McCullers out of the cafeteria, Emily was rather quiet but the girls didn't want to press her.

"Speaking of Toby…" Hanna said as if they were just continuing the earlier conversation without interruption. "Are you going to ask him about the message? Or your kiss?" she added mischievously.

Spencer stabbed at her salad, chuckling slightly. "I think I'll stick with just asking about the message for now."

Emily met her eyes and the playful look in her eyes alerted her that she was rooting for a repeat of the latter of Hanna's suggestion for her friend.

Truth be told, Spencer wasn't against the idea either.

* * *

After school ended, Spencer decided she needed the extra time to prepare so she walked to Toby's rather than taking the SUV. It was only a couple blocks anyways.

Maybe Hanna was right. Maybe she should just ask about their kiss already. After the back and forth tutoring session, where they seemed to be getting closer but then he thrust her book back at her like it had burned, she had been so confused. But with the secret message he was clearly on their side, right? So maybe this cold front was over? Maybe he had just been scared because Jenna had caught them and probably had threatened him in some way.

When Spencer arrived at the end of Toby's walkway, he happened to be leaving out of his front door.

"Toby? Can I talk to you a second?"

She couldn't help but notice he had gotten his hair cut recently. She tried not to feel as though that was because of her suggestion that day in the alley, but the concept made her smile inwardly. After all, it had been her suggestion all those months ago that inspired the change then.

"I can't talk. Something's up with the DA. The lawyer's driving me over to my dad's office." he explained. His quiet tone didn't do much to reassure her that things were okay between them.

"Just tell me—was that supposed to be a joke? Because if it was—"

He seemed confused. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm talking about what I found in my book. The braille that you wanted me to have." she clarified. If it had been a joke, he would've been delivering the punch line now. But Toby wasn't really that type so she knew now more than ever that she had been an idiot to even contemplate that possibility.

"That was no joke."

"'Bad'? The whole message was 'bad'. What, am I supposed to go buy an old Michael Jackson album?" she asked, referencing the King of Pop's seventh studio album.

He tried not to smile at her sass. He forgot how quick on her feet she could be. "You're reading it wrong." he told her, wishing he had time to explain but the man in a suit had opened the car door for him, clearly signalling that they needed to leave. "I can't do this now. Come back Saturday in the morning. Jenna's out at her flute lesson."

Seeing the man had climbed into the driver's seat now, Toby reached out to finger the tip of her side-braid. "I know I don't have the best track record with you, but I wouldn't mess with you about that. Try decoding it again. I know you'll figure it out."

And with that, he released her hair and got into the black car.

Spencer watched him drive away, pulling out her phone when it beeped.

_Jenna is gonna be soooo pissed. –A_

She shoved her phone back into her pocket irritably. She didn't need a reminder of a factor that was keeping her and Toby apart right now.

* * *

After leaving Toby's, Spencer got a call from a bored Aria and figured it was about time she got down to the bottom of what had been keeping her two friends in such a fight.

"What's going on between you and Hanna?"

"It's nothing you have to worry about." Aria promised.

Spencer wasn't letting her off that easily. "You were snarking at each other like you were on a reality show. _The Real Teens of Rosewood_."

Spencer couldn't see it but she could practically hear Aria roll her eyes.

"Oh, tell me about Toby."

So much for not letting her off easy. Spencer immediately was distracted by remembering back to her conversation with the blue-eyed boy.

She leaned back in the red chair in her bedroom. "He says we have what he wanted us to have. It's the right message, I'm just reading it wrong." she explained, pausing, wondering if she should share their postponed rendezvous. "He wants me to come to his house Saturday."

"Are you going?" Aria asked, clearly knowing that this was a bigger deal than Spencer was trying to make it out to be. The last time Spencer and Toby had spent significant time together that she knew of they had kissed. And with the way things were going and how her best friend felt, she knew the possibility of that action being repeated wasn't out of the question. Going on Saturday would tempt fate and if Spencer was going, it was obvious that she was willing for that to happen.

"Well if I don't, how are we going to figure this out? I'm shut out with Melissa and Ian."

Aria smiled. "Did you talk to him about your kiss yet?"

Despite not being able to see Spencer either, she still sensed the tall girl was blushing.

"No. But his hair is shorter again."

Only someone who had been there in the moment that Toby had walked down the street after the barber shop would understand the significance of that action.

"Wow. So he's trying to get your attention."

"I don't know. It feels that way. But then I remember how many times I've been wrong about him the past and then I don't know."

"Well, I think there have been other factors during those times. I think it's pretty obvious that Toby's feelings haven't changed. And neither have yours."

Spencer didn't know what to say to that. She knew Aria was right, but she was still scared. She had been burned one too many times.

But she was saved from answering when she heard a siren going off on Aria's end of the phone. It made her pause, but her ears weren't deceiving her—there was no siren on her end. How was that possible? Was she out somewhere? It had been so quiet Spencer hadn't contemplated the possibility that she was anywhere but at home.

"Where are you?"

"What do you mean? I'm right here." Aria said in confusion.

"Any fire truck you can hear at your house I can hear at mine." But then it clicked and Spencer bolted into a sitting position. "Oh my god! Are you in his apartment?" She smiled slyly. "Are you on the bed?"

"No, I'm not on the bed." Aria defended, her voice a little strangled, and Spencer figured she was lying but didn't press her.

"Is he there?"

She couldn't believe Aria was alone in their English teacher's apartment! How insane was that?!

"Not… exactly."

"Is he _in the shower_?" Spencer teased. She knew Aria and Mr. Fitz were pretty serious, but she hoped that if they had taken a significant step forward in their relationship, aka consummated it, Aria would have confided in her.

But if the guy was showering around her, Spencer couldn't help her mind from going dirty.

"He's getting take-out for dinner. And this call is becoming very 1-900." Aria retorted, a tad amused.

Spencer grinned. "To talk to a hot English teacher, press 3." she mimicked in her sultriest voice.

"Call ending now." Aria replied and Spencer knew her fun was over. "Tomorrow?"

She rolled her eyes, sad that she couldn't continue teasing her little friend mercilessly. "Yeah, tomorrow."

Aria hung up and Spencer picked up the note Toby had scrawled to her again.

She was reading it wrong. What did that mean? What else could BAD mean? Maybe it was initials?

Spencer stood up and picked up last year's yearbook out of her bookshelf. It was somewhere to start at least.

* * *

After a night of googling what the initials B.A.D. could mean, Spencer figured she was following a false trail again. She couldn't see how the British Association of Dermatologists would be of any significance to what they were dealing with.

After school, she went shopping with the other three girls, inwardly contemplating buying something new to show up at Toby's the next day in. Would he find it strange if she showed up in a little black dress in the middle of fall?

Probably. Sigh.

But Spencer and Emily were pleased to see Hanna and Aria's fight had definitely passed since the pair of them argued over who should get the pleasure of buying the gorgeous leather jacket they both had spotted, both trying to shove it off on the other in generosity.

Hanna finally came clean that the reason the two were fighting was because she had been forced by A to give Aria's mom a ticket to the museum exhibit Aria and Ezra had gone to. Exposing them to Aria's mom clearly would've been a disaster, but Hanna had been blackmailed and felt she had no choice. However, Caleb helped her put a stop to it—managing to find a way to stall Ella's car—and Aria and Ezra managed to have an amazing night without any knowledge that their whole relationship had nearly blown up.

Hanna then explained that that was the reason why she had been helping Caleb, because she owed him, and that he had been the one sleeping in the school. There had been rumors going around a week or two ago about someone breaking into the vending machines past their alarm time. However, now he was sleeping in her basement for a few days, which shocked all the others. Apparently no one had heard that news yet.

The blonde was saved from a lecture when they overheard Jenna's voice from across the store. Approaching quietly, they saw she was trying on some lacy lingerie number with a long kimono-type robe. Truth be told, she was a beautiful girl so she looked incredible in the all-black number, but it was the 'He likes lace' quote that sent chills down Spencer's spine.

Could she be talking about Toby? Would she try to seduce him again? Would he be able to stand his ground?

Spencer left the store later more determined than ever to decode the message from Jenna that Toby had given her.

* * *

Admitting defeat on the initials theory the next morning, Spencer went back to the braille site to determine if she had mistranslated. She had done it several times before, but she needed to do it one final time to be entirely sure.

She had to leave for Toby's soon. Jenna would be leaving for her flute lesson shortly and Spencer wasn't sure how long she would be gone.

She sighed as she read that, once again, she had translated correctly.

But as she went to sweep her eyes away, she finally noticed something. The letters also had subscript numbers with them. Did that mean…?

Yes! It wasn't letters at all. It was a three digit number!

Which meant it wasn't BAD. It was 214.

But what did that mean?

Spencer checked the time and calculated that she could leave now. She hoped Toby could clear this up.

* * *

The Cavanaugh household seemed empty when she knocked on the door. It wasn't closed all the way so her forceful raps had pushed it further ajar.

It felt like a crime scene waiting to happen. Why would they leave the door open? Had someone broken in? Was Toby okay?

Spencer called out hellos, hoping for a response from Toby and that his parents were out. She really didn't fancy meeting them when she was entering the house without formal invitation.

She stepped further into the hallway. "Hello?" she tried again.

No answer.

She looked to her left to see the sunshine shimmering through the antique looking room.

There were shelves along the wall with multiple ornaments, most being snow globes, and Spencer found herself drawn to it.

She glanced at the dolls around the room too, rationalizing that this must be Jenna's room.

There was a snow globe with two doves intertwined on the middle shelf. It had been catching the most light and Spencer couldn't help herself from lifting it up for further examination.

She knew two doves tended to symbolize love and devotion, hope and peacefulness; an unbreakable bond. She wondered who gave it to Jenna or if it had just been bought for the simple beauty of it rather than the meaning.

Toby had heard someone knocking at the door, Spencer's voice announcing her presence, but he was still listening to the voice on the other end of the line telling him the good news. He couldn't believe his luck. Was this really real?

Spencer's voice grew closer and he knew she must have entered the house looking for him. He didn't mind. At least his family was out.

He ended the phone call, expressing his gratitude repeatedly, before going to search for the long-haired brunette.

He saw her in Jenna's room, examining one of Jenna's many snow globes, and had to chuckle inwardly at her inability to control her own curiosity. She really couldn't even help herself.

Spencer was still lost in visually exploring the depths of the glass prison when she was startled.

"You better put that back." a voice suddenly came, almost causing her to drop it as she whipped around in surprise. Thankfully it was only Toby. His hands were raised in caution, as if he was trying to prove that he wasn't a threat. "Put it back where you got it or she'll know you were in here."

He knew all too well what happened if Jenna found out you were in her room. She may not be able to see but she was very good with all of her other senses. She had adapted rather well to her disability and got very angry if anyone tried to take advantage of her weakness. He had the bruises to prove it.

"I'm sorry. I knocked. The door was open." Spencer stammered, still holding the ornament in both hands.

Toby smiled a little. He hadn't meant to startle her, but his recent news also left him in high spirits. "I heard you, but I couldn't answer the door. I was on the phone." he explained as he walked towards her. "My lawyer called. The DA is dropping the charges against me."

Spencer nearly dropped the ornament in shock, but Toby's hands leaped out to cradle hers to rescue the fall. Her eyes flickered to his. Could he feel that spark pulsating from his fingers into hers? They were only touching briefly, but she had definitely felt a current of something between them.

"They're not going to charge you with killing Alison?" Spencer said hopefully. Was it really over?!

"I didn't get the details, but he said the blood evidence was corrupted. The district attorney can't go to trial without it." Toby told her, unable to keep the smile off his face now.

He looked so happy she couldn't help but smile in relief too.

"They're finished with you."

He hesitated. "Not _finished_. They can charge me any time they get new evidence, but for right now, I'm free. Once I get this ball and chain off my leg. I'm waiting for my dad to take me to the court house for that."

It was only closing in on lunchtime and she was sure his dad would be gone until probably dinner time. Toby had waited long enough to be free.

"I could drive you. If you want me to." she offered nervously, suddenly very aware that his hands were still cradling hers.

His broad smile confirmed his liking of that idea. Toby gently lifted the snow globe from her hands, placing it back in place and adjusting it slightly so it was perfect.

Spencer stared in fascination as the glitter floated and gleamed in the sunlight.

Toby brushed some dust off the shelves with his fingertips. "You know, this actually used to be my room."

She looked at him in surprise. It explained the built-in shelves. She knew Toby was into carpentry after all.

"Jenna obviously took it over when she moved in."

"Why did you have to give it to her?" Spencer asked.

Toby shrugged. "Because she wanted it."

Spencer could relate. "I redid the barn at my house and turned it into a loft. My parents said I could move into it for sophomore year if I did an internship with the mayor and a bunch of other stuff. I gave up my summer, thinking I'd finally have a small escape from my family. And then Melissa and Wren moved into it because she liked it. And now her and Ian. I don't want it now, but my parents didn't even hesitate to take it from me and give it to her."

Toby looked sad by the news, but not surprised. He knew she and her family had issues, most of which weren't helped by her eldest sister.

Spencer smiled, not having meant to make the conversation so depressing. "Come on. Let's get you freed for real."

Toby chuckled and followed her out of the front door.

But they both slowed down when they saw Jenna getting out of a cab. Spencer looked to Toby nervously, her eyes wide, seeking advice on what to do.

Jenna must have heard him close the front door. "Toby? Mr. Dugan called with the good news, did you hear?"

Toby stepped forward, unconsciously stepping a little in front of Spencer protectively. "He told me."

Jenna practically beamed. "We can get that awful thing off your leg right now. The cab's waiting."

Spencer moved to exit quietly, but Toby stopped her with his next line.

"That's all right. I've got a ride." he said, glancing at her, making sure she was still okay with doing so with the new conflict. Her eyes told all—she wasn't going anywhere.

Jenna's face changed, her smile morphing into a forced one immediately.

"Emily." she called out, assuming wrongly that that would be the friend aiding him.

"No it's me." Spencer said.

Toby bit his lip. He had hoped she would stay quiet and that they could move on without so much trouble, but the damage was done. Jenna's smile turned thin-lipped with impatience at the new information.

"Spencer." she confirmed as if she was swallowing a pill that was too large. "That's really very nice of you, but I'm here now."

Spencer didn't know what to do.

Toby looked between them and then made the decision, not caring about the consequences.

"I'm going with Spencer." he said firmly, grasping her hand and leading her down the steps and past Jenna to her SUV.

Spencer was shocked at his action but followed dutifully.

"I see." Jenna murmured, sounding a mix of hurt and furious. Her voice was almost shaking and Spencer wasn't sure which emotion was winning.

Toby opened the car door for his ally. Spencer almost startled at his gentlemanly ways. She had forgotten how chivalrous he could be.

She hopped in and he got in on the other side.

Spencer watched as Jenna paid the cab and walked stiffly inside the house.

She turned to Toby. "Look, I appreciate you choosing me and standing by me and everything, but I really don't want to put you on Jenna's bad side or get you into trouble—"

"Spencer, don't worry about it. Jenna knows that what she and I had is over for good now. But it doesn't stop her from trying to change my mind. I just needed her to know that you would always be my first choice over her. I'm sorry you got dragged into the middle of it though. I didn't mean to put you in such an awkward position."

Spencer dismissed him and drove in direction of the courthouse. "Toby, I'm glad you stood up to her. I don't care about getting in the middle of it as long as you aren't doing anything you don't want to do. Jenna's feelings on me have been clear for quite some time so I don't think today's incident will change much."

There was quiet between them as they both remembered the real incident that put Spencer permanently on the outs with Jenna. It wasn't exactly a highlight in either of their lives.

Arriving at the courthouse, Spencer pulled into a spot and locked the car behind them as they headed inside.

There were a few goons leaning against the wall outside, taking drags from the same cigarette, which Spencer had a feeling wasn't actually an innocent cigarette, and their eyes glued to her as she walked next to Toby up the steps.

One of them whistled at her and Toby instinctively put an arm around her waist, aiming a dirty look their way.

Spencer tried not to smile to herself. She could stand up for herself, but she'd be lying if she said that she didn't like seeing Toby get jealous and possessive.

She moved out of his hold to read the floor map to see where they need to go. She wasn't the only one who inwardly sighed in disappointment at the lack of contact.

"I think we're heading to 2C. That's where I went to get it in the first place." Toby said, pointing to it.

Spencer could hardly hear his words. All she could concentrate on was Toby's arm brushing hers as he pointed and traced the routes they could take and the softness of his breath on her neck from his close proximity.

All she wanted to do was lean back and have his other arm encircle her and pull her close.

But instead, he moved away and started heading towards the labelled area.

Spencer followed quickly, trying to act like she wasn't distracted at all.

Upstairs in the designated area, Spencer and Toby got in line. Most people were accompanied by a parole officer or something similar so Spencer felt a little out of place, but Toby was definitely preferring the company he had.

There were only a few people in front of them but it was a long process for each individual so they knew it wouldn't be a quick wait.

"Hey, I'm sorry. You don't have to wait for me. I can just walk home." Toby told her, realizing that she was wasting her Saturday standing around with him.

Spencer sent him a look. "And then who are you going to go out to celebrate with? What, did you think I was going to just drop you off at home and call it a day? I know your sweet tooth and I think after everything me treating you to ice cream is a must."

Toby smiled broadly. He couldn't even recall the last time he went out for something like that with a friend. And he knew he and Spencer were in a confusing in-between stage right now of trying to figure out exactly how to label their place in each others' lives, but the fact that they had plans to hang out for longer made him happy. He really wanted to talk about the serious stuff seeing as that was the reason she came over that morning, but he also wanted to just hangout with her. He had definitely missed spending time with her over their separation.

The line moved and they stepped forwards, their hands bumping together.

Toby looked to the waxy linoleum to avoid her eyes in embarrassment.

"So ice cream huh?" he said conversationally, trying to turn things less awkward.

Spencer smiled. "Yep. I was thinking we'd drive to that place in Philly. They have tons of flavours and topping options. And if you behave like a _good_ fugitive, I might even let you get a dipped cone." she teased in a whisper, leaning up to reach his ear.

Dear god, why did her voice have to get so raspy? Toby felt his mind drifting beyond cold treats and into a much more dangerous territory at the suggestive intonation.

It did not help that she giggled as she pulled back, obviously enjoying her own humour.

Toby couldn't complain though. There was no greater sight than a happy Spencer Hastings.

"Let me guess… you already have your flavour picked out, don't you?"

Spencer flushed. "My entire order actually…" she muttered.

Toby had to chuckle at her predictability. She was always planning ahead.

"So are you excited to get that thing off or what?" Spencer asked playfully as they moved up again, nudging him gently with her elbow, preferring the subject to steer away from her.

"More than you know." he said, then leaned closer to speak in an undertone. "Do you think if I cartwheeled out of here they'd arrest me?"

To his surprise, she snorted in laughter, causing a very stern looking woman behind one of the desks to send a glare their way.

Unfortunately, this action only caused the pair of them to crack up harder. What was it about not being allowed to laugh that made things ten times funnier?

Spencer turned away from the cranky woman, burying her laughs in Toby's leather-clad shoulder and trying to control herself.

She smacked Toby irritably for making her laugh in the first place.

"Can you not make jokes about making a gymnastics exit when we're in a quiet lobby?" she scolded through her snickers.

Toby threw an arm around her shoulders so she could continue to bury them in his shoulder and draw less attention to them, trying to contain his own chuckles.

Finally it was their turn. Toby was escorted to a room where they used some tools to properly deactivate and remove the device. After signing some papers, he was free to go.

Before they could leave, a voice interrupted. "Cavanaugh."

Toby turned to see one of the guards from county prison gazing at him. He held out a hand to shake. "I was happy to hear about the good news. I knew you didn't belong in that place."

Toby shook his hand in return. "Uh thanks."

He wasn't sure he entirely believed that sentiment, but even if he only meant it since hearing the news, Toby would take it.

"This is Spencer." he added awkwardly, not really sure what the etiquette expectations were when a guard from prison was greeting you like an old friend.

"Hi. Um, nice to meet you." she said with more confidence than she felt. Inwardly, she was rather intimidated by the uniform he was donned in, but she wasn't about to let him know that.

His face changed. "You're the ex-girlfriend."

Both Toby and Spencer blanched. How did he know? Toby had never spoken to anyone in jail about Spencer. Would she think he was running his mouth about their past relationship? Would he look like he was obsessed with her?

"I remember your voice. That rasp is pretty distinctive. And I couldn't forget that phone call of yours. How is the baby?"

Toby was silent but his knees swayed. The WHAT?!

Spencer, on the other hand, had turned bright red. She hadn't intended on Toby ever finding out about that white lie.

"She-she's great. Coming right along." Spencer stammered, forcing a smile.

"Yeah, we're really excited." Toby managed to get out, putting an arm around her waist and plastering on a fake smile.

"Yeah, my wife is due in December. How about you guys?"

"March." they said in unison and then shared an awkward look. It was odd that they immediately chose the same month in the future.

"Well…it was nice seeing you." Spencer said, taking Toby's hand and leaning up to kiss his cheek. "C'mon honey, we better get to stroller shopping!"

The man nodded approvingly. "Well, best of luck to you two. Glad things worked out."

And with that, he left them to themselves and headed over to escort one of the juveniles into another room.

Toby was shaking his head in disbelief, amused, as Spencer led him by the hand out of the building. "Baby?"

"March?" she challenged, but then cracked up. "Okay, so maybe I got kind of desperate when you were in prison and fed the guard a story that I thought would convince him to bend the rules to let me talk to you…"

Toby had to laugh, hugging her with one arm and placing a chaste kiss to her hair. "God, Spencer Hastings, you really are incredible, aren't you?"

She simply blushed.

"C'mon. That ice cream isn't going to eat itself." she teased as she pulled him to the car.


End file.
